CHENNAI:The Corporation of Chennai is putting in a dedicated effort to help Class 12 pass outs from its schools to continue their education by helping them get admitted to professional degrees and certification courses that can guarantee employment.
By keeping track of students who cleared the Class 12 exams, the civic body has been able to reach out to all eligible candidates. Officials said that vulnerable family and financial positions were often the reason for a child to discontinue education and seek employment. Given this background, the Corporation, in coordination with the Centre for Science and Learning (CSL), had appointed facilitators earlier this year, who would not only offer career guidance counselling but also submit status analysis reports of individual students.
These reports have helped the Corporation trace and identify students and push them to apply for higher education courses, with the promise that it would bear the majority of education expenses. “The Corporation offers Rs 5,000 towards engineering and medical counselling expenses for eligible candidates. When it was brought to our notice that a few students may give up education for want of Rs 500 to buy the application form, we decided to bear those charges as well,” said a senior official.
“For a student enrolling in a professional degree, Rs 45,000 per year is offered by the Corporation towards tuition fees,” the official added.
Out of the 5,286 students who passed the Class 12 examinations in 2015, 846 were found eligible to gain admission into one of the top 100 engineering colleges in the State. As on date, statistics obtained from CSL suggest that more than 150 students have applied for counselling.
For students who achieved average pass scores, the civic body conducted a career counselling camp, where representatives from Apollo Medskills, DG Vaishnav College and Dr MGR Janaki Arts and Science College for Women met with prospective students and offered them admissions. “Apollo Medskills offer diploma courses which guarantees employment in the paramedical sector. Some of their courses are in the range of Rs 80,000 but we were able to secure bank loans that the students only need to start repaying after completing one year in a job. Apollo would only collect a nominal Rs 5,000 per student, which would also be contributed by the Corporation,” said Uma Mahesh, vice president – business development, CSL, adding that Apollo had guaranteed to absorb the students it will train.
Meanwhile, Muslim students who passed out of Corporation schools too have been offered full scholarship to continue higher education at the BS Abdur Rahman University. Dr MGR Janaki College has offered BA Natya courses to around 20 applicants.
“The course doesn’t require formal training in the art. After completion of two years, the students become eligible to teach fine arts subjects in schools, which is a decent source of income,” Mahesh added.
For those who failed their Class 12 exams, the Corporation is conducting special classes to help them prepare for the supplementary exams following which they will be helped onto vocational degrees. “We are focused in ensuring that no student is left behind,” an official said.