KOZHIKODE: Students and teachers of Rajiv Gandhi Memorial Residential Higher Secondary School (RGMRHSS) at Noolpuzha in Wayanad are on cloud nine. For the first time in the school's 30-year history, a student has cleared the SSLC examination with A plus in all subjects.
Amalraj P from the tribal-only school has achieved the feat. He hails from the Kattunayka community which falls under the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG). Though the school started in 1991, the first SSLC batch passed out 20 years ago.
"Not only that, we secured 100 percent success rate too. All the 35 students who wrote SSLC examination have qualified for higher education. Till now, our top achievement was a student who got an A plus in six subjects. This time, we made a focused effort for better results," said headmaster Sunil Kumar M, who joined the school last year on request transfer. The school has 372 students in classes 1 to 10 and another 150 in the higher secondary section.
'Sreedhanya was my inspiration'
Hailing from Poovanchi colony, Chethalayam near Sultan Bathery, Amalraj said he wanted to follow in the footsteps of Sreedhanya Suresh, the first tribal woman from the state who cracked the civil service examination. "The fact that Sreedhanya is from Wayanad was a major booster. Whenever I felt stuck in life, I remembered that she would have faced the same hurdles and overcame them with steely resolve," he told TNIE. The son of headload worker Raju V K and former local ward member Thankamani K B, Amalraj joined the residential school in class 1. His elder brother Akhilraj is pursuing a degree in sociology.
"Our lives reached nowhere. We don't want the same to happen to the next generation. Poovanchi colony has four government employees -3 cops and one forest watcher - from Kattunayka community. All of them were absorbed through special recruitment. Let our children raise the bar and reach new heights," said Amalraj's uncle V Chandran.
Among those who cleared the SSLC exam from RGMRHSS is a lone student from Cholanayaka community - Sobha of Parappanpara.