CHENNAI: After TNIE published a report on the hardships faced by 17-year-old R Annapoorani, a student of GCC’s Saidapet Girls Higher Secondary School who scored 428 in Class 12 despite all odds, chairman of Ethiraj College for Women, VM Muralidharan on Tuesday offered her admission to the BSc Computer Science with Artificial Intelligence course she aspired to study.
Annapoorani was abandoned by her parents at a temple when she was just three months old. Her great-grandmother, D Kamalam, raised and educated her while working as a domestic help.
Offering the seat, Muralidharan said, “I saw the girl’s story published by TNIE on X and immediately wanted to offer her a seat in our college with a full scholarship.”
College principal Dr S Uma Gowrie said the gesture aligns with founder VL Ethiraj’s vision of empowering women through education. She added apart from academics, the college focuses on building self-confidence and holistic development, so students can support their families and reach their full potential.
Speaking to TNIE, her school class teacher, G Sridevi, said Annapoorani is highly attentive in class and several teachers, including herself, keep pushing her and provide her moral support. She also expressed her happiness that she has got scholarship.
Speaking to TNIE, 75-year-old Kamalam said, “Even if it was work worth just Rs 10, I would take it up.” From washing vessels and mopping floors to cleaning bathrooms and chopping vegetables, she took up every job she could find to keep Annapoorani in school.
Though her education expenses are now covered, Annapoorani and Kamalam still struggle with household expenses. Kamalam, who earns around Rs 2,500 a month working as house-help at two houses, said they have no one else to support them.
Annapoorani too has worked as a domestic help and fetched drinking water for a family in the housing board in the past three years. Annapoorani now works at a tea shop, earning around `600 a month.
Chinmayi extends support to four students
Meanwhile, following the TNIE report on four other corporation school students who recently passed Class 12 and are struggling financially to pursue higher education, singer Chinmayi Sripada assured help through an NGO, which she supports through her singing performances.
The students include Maithili, who scored 593 in Class 12 and aspires to become a chartered accountant. Her father works as a dhobi, washing and ironing clothes. Dharsvini scored 586 and dreams of becoming an IAS officer. Her father S Venkatesan, works as a tailor, while her mother V Kaladoes housekeeping jobs.
Another student, Yokeshwaran, scored 531 in Class 12 and also cleared JEE Main with 93.4%. While his father works as a carpenter, he is in need of financial assistance to pursue higher education in engineering. S Manisha, a partially blind student with dyslexia who scored 504, aspires to pursue a B Tech degree in Cyber Security. Her father works as a painter.
In addition, a Chennai-based IT employee, Kailash MS, contributed Rs 5000 towards Maithili’s CA coaching fees.