Schools move south for more space

CHENNAI: When Irudaya Gandhi's husband left for Dubai last year, she had two options - continue to live with her children in their apartment in Royapettah or move closer to her parents' house in Chitalapakkam. For the 37-year-old the choice was obvious and she moved.

"Three years ago, the choice may not have been so easy because I have the children's education to think about. I realised there are many schools in the suburbs and decided to move," said Gandhi, whose children study at N S N Matriculation Higher Secondary School.

Five to seven years ago it was not uncommon to find families moving out of the suburbs in search of good schools in the city. Over the last couple of years, with the development in the suburbs, urban experts have been noticing a trend of reverse migration where families are moving back to the suburbs.

"While education is among the driving forces for this trend of reverse migration, there are other factors such as congestion in the city, pollution and skyrocketing real estate prices that are driving people to the suburbs," said Raj Cherubal, founder of Chennai City Connect, an NGO that works on infrastructure issues.

The lack of space and soaring real estate prices within the city have pushed people wishing to start schools outside the city limits. "To start a new school within the city is close to impossible. The management has to deal with outdated and unnecessary regulations regarding the size of the buildings and space, among others. The process is relatively hassle-free while setting up a school in the suburbs," he said.

Many schools have mushroomed in the southern suburbs such as Chromepet, Chitalapakkam, East Tambaram, Palavanthangal and Madipakkam. "When we set up our school in Nanganallur, there were hardly any educational institutions here. Within a decade, at least 10 recognised schools have come up," said K Vasudevan, principal of Prince Matriculation Higher Secondary School, which has more than 2,700 students.

With the development of the suburbs, connectivity to the city has also improved, drawing more students from the city. Although education is the driving force, families who have moved say staying in a suburb has other advantages. "Water is available in plenty. It is relatively less noisy, congested and polluted," says K Jeevan who moved to Indira Nagar two years ago after renting out his house in Vadapalani.

"Today, only a few banks are headquartered on Anna Salai. A large number of companies and factories are in Sriperambudur or on OMR, which were very different places 15 years ago. Residential clusters have started coming up here. With different types of schools coming up, people have no reason not to set up base here," said P Vishnucharan, correspondent of Shree Niketan Group of Schools in Tiruvallur.

Real estate prices have gone up by close to 40%, say builders. "The prices have touched Rs 3,200 to 3,500 per sq.ft. Despite the rise, the demand is high as the cost is less than the city," says Prakash Challa, national vice-president of real estate body CREDAI.

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