CHENNAI: Four tribal students studying in government schools have secured seats in the first round of Joint Seat Allocation Authority (JoSAA) counselling, of which one secured a seat in IIT Madras while the remaining three got seats in the National Institute of Technology in Tiruchy.
While around 10 tribal students from government schools got admitted in premiere institutions like NITs last year, officials said they are expecting at least 20 students to get admitted this year through JoSAA counselling, which handles admissions to 127 national institutes, including 23 IITs and 31 NITs, besides the Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) and other Government-Funded Technical Institutions (GFTIs).
They attributed the increase to the sustained efforts taken by the state government in the last two to three years to support students preparing for competitive examinations for joining such institutions.
As reported first by TNIE, this year saw the first time a student from a government-run tribal residential school - A Rajeshwari from Karumandurai in the Kalvarayan Hills of Salem district - entering an IIT. She opted for Aerospace Engineering at IIT Madras in the first round of counselling.
C Rithika, another tribal student from the Eklavya Model Residential School (EMRS) in Puliampatti in Tiruvannamalai district secured admission to the Metallurgical Engineering course at NIT Tiruchy. S Sathish, from the Government Tribal Residential School in Velligoundanur in Salem chose Mechanical Engineering at NIT Tiruchy. RK Roshan from the Adi Dravidar Welfare Higher Secondary School in Savalakaran near Mannargudi in Tiruvarur district also secured a seat in Metallurgical Engineering at NIT Tiruchy.
Speaking to TNIE, Sathish said his father is engaged in agriculture and cattle rearing. “My elder brother is in his final year of BA Tamil. My teachers encouraged me to pursue a professional course. I received coaching for JEE Mains from Class 11. I’m happy that I managed to get into a premier institution,” he said.
Rithika’s father works as a postmaster while her mother is a homemaker. She has an elder brother studying third year B Tech in IT. Roshan, a native of Nallanallur in Mannargudi, is the son of a single parent. His mother works at an e-sevai centre.
