CHENNAI: More than 100 students studying in Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare department schools across the state have scored well in the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Mains Session I, making them eligible for the advanced exam. The department plans to bring more than 200 students from these schools for residential training to Chennai to coach them for JEE Session II and JEE (Advanced) at the end of this month.
According to the officials, 1,150 students from the ADWT schools wrote the JEE (Main) Session I and more than 100 students scored above 50 percentile. Since last year, headmasters and teachers in schools under the departments have been encouraging students to participate in competitive entrance exams including JEE, CLAT and NEET. The department has also provided additional materials to the students including books and question papers required for the preparation.
Among those who scored good marks is P Manikandan from Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) in Vellimalai. He hails from Thottidurai village in Salem district and belongs to the tribal community of Malayalis. “My father is a daily wage worker. I have two elder brothers and they were forced to start working after Class 10 due to our financial situation.
I am the first in my family to complete school education as I wrote my last Class 12 paper on Tuesday. Though my scores were average in classes 10 and 11 examinations, teachers in my school encouraged me to prepare for JEE (Mains) and I am glad I scored well,” says Manikandan. He scored 73.8 percentile. Another student from Attur Adi Dravidar Welfare Department School in Salem, A Dhinesh, scored 81.14 percentile.
Last year, one student joined IIT and six students joined NIT from these schools. “Our priority is to create awareness among the students about these exams and understand if they want to give them a try. It is still difficult for us to convince students, and also the parents to let the students go out of their hometown, to attend residential coaching or even join premier institutions once they clear the examinations. Apart from coaching them, this is a huge task as it requires frequent conversations with them. This year, the department supported us by paying the entrance examination fees apart from aiding the preparation,” said a teacher from the tribal welfare department school.
Senior officials in the department said they have been working along with teachers in model schools, which are run by the school education department to coach the students, to ensure they get proper materials. These students will also be brought for two-month coaching at the Center of Academic Excellence, Saidapet, along with students from other government schools, said officials.