KARAIKAL: At a time when Karaikal is looking to improve its pass percentage in board examinations, the administration, taking into account a survey it undertook among government schoolchildren desiring to pursue MBBS, on Saturday commenced free NEET coaching for them with support from a private institute and philanthropists.
Even as the administration noted no government school student cleared NEET 2023, Collector A Kulothungan said, “When I spoke to some government school students recently and asked them what they wished to become, they replied that they wanted to become doctors. However, many said they could not afford private coaching for NEET. I was disturbed. I understand how it hurts when opportunities are denied. We decided to provide the best training possible for our government school students.”
The administration then conducted a survey across government higher secondary schools to assess how many students wanted to pursue MBBS. At least 271 of those surveyed expressed interest. Going back to the drawing board, officials realised that it was better to impart coaching to experienced trainers. "We did not want to compromise the standard of training with the limited revenue resources. So we reached out to one of the best institutes in the delta region," the collector said.
While the institute in question quoted around '3 crore to coach 271 students it settled down to a training fee of '10 lakh and '4 lakh for stationery expenses after the local administration reasoned that most students hailed from a modest background. On Saturday, the coaching programme for government schoolchildren was launched at Thanthai Periyar Government Higher Secondary School. Collector Kulothungan, who was the chief guest, motivated the students to use the training effectively. Deputy Director of Higher Education M Radjesvary and Director of Seekers Academy R Muraidhar was present.
While classes currently are scheduled on weekends, the coaching sessions will be held daily once the students complete their Class 12 board examination. The local administration has also planned to operate special buses across Karaikal for the benefit of the students. On the initiative, AST Ansari Babu, an activist, said, “It is appreciable considering the standards of education Karaikal witnessed earlier this year.” Meanwhile, the administration has sought sponsorship for the programme from philanthropists and companies under their corporate social responsibility.