The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Chennai Corporation schools do well

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Chennai Corporation schools do well

Staff Reporter

Toppers come from poor families with little access to special coaching

ON CLOUD NINE: Students of Corporation Higher Secondary School on Madhavaram High Road celebrate their success in the Plus Two examinations after the results were declared on Monday. — PHOTO: V. GANESAN

CHENNAI: For the fifth consecutive year, Chennai Corporation Schools students have performed well in the Plus Two examination, with 4,089 of the 5,001 students clearing it. This year, the schools have recorded six percentage points more than last year, said a release from the civic body. The results were announced on Monday.

Purasawalkam Corporation Boys Higher Secondary School ranked first with a pass percentage of 94.7. Madhavaram Girls Higher Secondary School stood second with a pass percentage of 94.4. Of the 540 students who appeared for the examination from the school, 510 have passed and 17 have scored over 1,000 out of 1,200 marks. Bulla Avenue Girls Higher Secondary School in Shenoy Nagar has recorded a pass percentage of 94.2 per cent.

The toppers come from poor families with no opportunities for special coaching.

Topper's surprise

P.G. Induja of Nungambakkam Girls Higher Secondary School stood first with 1,130 marks. She took the Science stream (Physics, Chemistry Maths with Biology) and has scored a centum in Mathematics. She hopes to study Engineering (ECE/IT) in Anna University.

In a meandering lane off Nelson Manickam Road, she lives in a nondescript brick building that her grandfather recently sold. The money will help in her education, he said. "I expected her to do well," said her grandfather, P.M. Somasundaram, but the rank was a surprise.

Her father, Gopinath, is a daily wager in the State government. Induja lives in a joint family with four uncles and aunts, a host of cousins and an elder sister. Her mother Rajeshwari said, "My husband has studied up to class X and I have passed class XII. I have no idea about education."

The second and third rank went to the Madhavaram School. Second ranker P. Hemalatha's (PCM with Biology, score 1,115) father is a Mathematics schoolteacher. Third ranker M. Dipika's (1,112) father works as a turner in a company. The three girls stood first, second and third in their school in the standard X examinations held two years ago.

"This year, as there will be no entrance examination, we hope students will get into medicine. In nutrition and dietetics," principal C. Rema Devi said.

The first three ranks in Sevalaya School in Pakkam near Tiruninravur went to first generation learners. L. Vijaya Kumar scored 1,051 and stood first. His father works in a brick kiln. Second ranker E. Chitra's (994) parents are labourers and her house has no electricity. S. Nithya's (992) father is a loader in a lorry company.

The school, with an overall result of 98 per cent, has registered 100 per cent result in the Agriculture stream for the third successive year.

Local Administration Minister M.K. Stalin has announced in the Chennai Corporation budget that the first 25 students who are admitted to Medicine and Engineering will be given Rs. 25,000 every year until they finish their degree. Financial assistance would be provided to students admitted to undergraduate courses such as nursing, teaching, B.Sc., B. Com., B.B.A. and B.C.A. it has been announced. The incentive helped in improving results, said Mayor M. Subramaniam.

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