PUDUKKOTTAI: Saturday was a red-letter day for 12 students of the panchayat union middle school at Sethurapatti in Pudukkottai as they not only made their first-ever visit to Bengaluru but also had their tryst with the skies as they headed to the neighbouring state by flight, courtesy the “educational exposure programme” organised by their headmaster.

Six teachers accompanied the students, who flew from Tiruchy on an Air India flight on Saturday morning. School headmaster C N Muthukaruppan said he selected the students from Classes 3 to 5 part of the touring group based on their half-yearly examination marks while those in Classes 6 to 8 made it based on their performance in a quiz competition.

The students are visiting the Karnataka Legislative Assembly (Vidhana Soudha) and the Visvesvaraya Industrial & Technological Museum, among other places of interest. Muthukaruppan said the funds for the tour were mobilised through contributions from students, teachers and the School Management Committee (SMC), with prior intimation of the plan given to the education officials. “This exposure builds confidence and motivates them to perform better academically,” he said.

The touring group is returning to Pudukkottai by bus on Sunday night. B Subani, a Class 7 student part of the group, said, “Seeing Bengaluru and the Assembly makes me want to study harder and become an officer.”

Teachers said the initiative would be continued annually as a merit-based reward, combining motivation with real-world learning.