CHENNAI: 16-year-old B Brindha is the only government school student to score 200/200 cut-off mark in the Tamil Nadu Engineering Admission (TNEA), and this is no minor feat! Hailing from Villupuram district, which was ranked as one of TN’s worst performers in education index, this success means a lot for Brindha, her family, and her teachers.
Brindha, who lost her father to a road accident in 2016, is a student of SR Government Girls Higher Secondary School, Valavanur. She was selected for the ‘Elite school programme’, which is run by the district administration to offer special coaching for bright government school students hailing from poor families, in October last.
Since then, Brindha and her teachers worked hard to enhance her performance. “I would give the credit for my success to my teachers in the elite school as they were available round the clock to help me. It’s a wrong notion that government school teachers don’t teach properly. I feel the elite school programme is a blessing for students like me,” Brindha said.
“If my father was al ive today, he would be proud of me. He wanted me and my two sisters to be well-educated.” She also said she now would not have to fear taunts that she got a seat under the government school students reservation.
Academicians feel Brindha’s achievement is a lesson for school education department. “There is no dearth of talent among our government school students; we just need to support them by providing good infrastructure. School education department should start Elite school programme in all districts,” said K Sundareswar, an academician.