Children of auto drivers and daily wage laborers were among the 20 plus students from Tirupattur Government Model School who gained admission into India’s premier colleges this year through Tamil Nadu's Naan Mudhalvan scheme.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, R Kokilaveni, the daughter of an agricultural laborer who got into the Computer Science and Engineering Programme at the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Kottayam, said, “Online classes with AhaGuru, facilitated by the model school, immensely helped us understand how JEE (Joint Entrance Examination) questions are structured. Every week, we were given previous years' question papers to solve and the teachers were very helpful."
P Mohan Kumar, the son of P Krishnaveni, a homemaker secured admission into the Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering Programme at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras. The proud mother said, “My husband is an auto driver, earning roughly Rs 400 a day. We have three children — one boy and two girls. Given our financial situation, we never dreamed of getting our children into such prestigious colleges. We are grateful.”
M Satish Kumar, the father of S Vinoth, who got into the Bachelor of Management Studies at Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh, said, “I’m a construction laborer. I earn Rs 10,000 a month if I get work every day. It is a huge blessing for us to see our son getting admission into this college.”
It should be noted that last year, as many as 36 students from the district model school gained admission to premier institutes.
An official from the district model school told The New Indian Express that the scheme has been operational in Tirupattur for the past two years. “Before this, government school students were not able to secure admissions to such prestigious institutions. It was made possible after one model school was established in all districts,” he said.
The model schools are residential and provide coaching for over 20 competitive exams like IIT, NIT (National Institute of Technology), IIIT, AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences Delhi) and so on. Additionally, once students are admitted to colleges, both their tuition and hostel fees are fully funded by the government.
