CHENNAI: Beating all the odds, T Sundaramoorthy, a 17-year-old boy, hailing from a small village in Ariyalur district, scored 91 per cent in his Class 12 examinations, despite not having proper access to smartphone and internet. Shifted to Tiruchy to get better education, Sundaramoorthy’s parents sell vegetables and plants.
“After I completed Class 11, the State went under a full lockdown and we were suddenly asked to attend classes over smartphones. Our whole family had only one phone, which my 20-year-old brother was using to attend his college classes,” said Sundaramoorthy.
While he studied in a government school till Class 10, he moved to a private school, after an NGO came forward to sponsor his education. “My brother would lend me his phone at noon after work. By that time, I would have missed half my classes. Also, his classes consumed most of the data available for the day and I could only attend my classes with whatever data left,” he said.
After scoring a little over 50 per cent in one of his revision tests due to this accessibility issue, Sundaramoorthy came up with a solution, which was, to personally call his teachers. Everyday, after the online classes got over, he would call all his teachers and jot down the notes.
After preparing for at least eight hours a day and writing revision exams, Sundaramoorthy scored 541 marks out of 600, with 93 marks in his favourite subject, Chemistry. The 17-year-old says his next goal is to clear NEET. “I want to pursue MBBS and have been studying for NEET everyday. I do not have enough funds to join a coaching class. So I am taking my teacher’s help and trying to get through.”
Apart from this, Sundaramoorthy has also been teaching his 16-year-old sister, who also does not have a smartphone to attend classes. He said he teaches her all the subjects for a couple of hours everyday. Sundaramoorthy is also good at sculpting and has won several competitions in public speaking at district level.