Lockdown forces Chennai homeless children out of school, families struggle to earn a living The coronavirus-induced lockdown in March this year cut the sources of livelihood of these families. In the absence of a regular income, they are struggling to make ends meet, and in some cases, children dropped out of school to support their parents. Updated: December 24, 2020 10:04:01 am In the absence of a regular income, several families are struggling to make ends meet, and in some cases, children dropped out of school to support their parents. (Express photo: Janardhan Koushik) Eleven-year-old Akshaya, who studies in Class VI in a government-aided school in Chennai’s Ratan Baazar, says she has not attended her online classes for months as the only phone available in her house was broken. “My father’s smart-phone got damaged a few months ago. It hasn’t been repaired till now, so I am not able to attend the online classes,” she says. Stories like Akshaya’s echo in nearly five hundred families living on the streets of North Chennai.