The family of Suganthi, the lady teacher who drowned in a pond while attempting to save children near Vedaranyam in Nagapattinam district on 3 December, will be provided a house under the Indira Awaz Yojana scheme, Nagapttinam MP A K S Vijayan said on Friday.

Twenty one-year old Suganthi and Subramanian, cleaner of the vehicle and the driver had saved seven children, but she drowned while attempting to save some other children.

The MP, who visited the bereaved family, found that her parents are poor agricultural labourers and live in a thatched house. They were dependent on Suganthi's income for survival.

Vijayan also announced that a memorial would be built at Nagamudaiyan village as a mark of respect to the children and the teacher.

A day after a high school in Nagapattinam district was closed by the administration for functioning without recognition, 10 nursery and primary schools were today ordered to be closed down for the same reason.

'A high-level committee headed by the Chief Educational Officer investigated the recognition status of all nursery and matric schools in the district. Based on its recommendations, 10 schools have been ordered to close down with immediate effect,' Collector C Munianathan told reporters in Porayar.

Munianathan said the Assistant Educational Officers of the respective areas had been directed to help parents admit their wards in nearby schools.

The school in Nagapattinam district was closed after nine students and a teacher was killed in a van accident on 3 December.