The Hindu : Kellys home records 100 p.c. pass

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jun 01, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu-Chennai

Kellys home records 100 p.c. pass

By Ramya Kannan

Chennai May 31. This summer, the Government Children's Home for Girls, Kellys, has distinguished itself. For the first time in its history, the school has achieved a 100 per cent pass in the SSLC examination. No mean achievement this, considering the special circumstances the children studying in the school have come from.

All the girls studying in the school, being run by the Directorate of Social Defence, fall into one of the following categories: destitutes, neglected children, children who are serving time for minor offences. They live away from their families, as orphans in the home and go to school on the same campus. Most of them have come back to school, after discontinuing studies briefly, and have the natural disadvantage of such a break from formal education. Their mates are those who live with them in the home, eat the food the Government gives them and wear the clothes it buys for them.

Which is why it is significant that the school has scored a 100 per cent pass in the SSLC examination. All the 21 girls in the class have passed the exams, with flying colours. "We have managed to come as far as 94 per cent, but cent percentage has always been slipping away from us. We were hoping that it would be a good result, but this has taken us by surprise," says the ecstatic headmistress, S. Thangalakshmi.

"Our children have always had problems with English and Mathematics. They are our weakest spots and have been the reason for failures in the past. This year, to overcome this hurdle, two teachers were appointed in the school, on transfer from Chengalpet.'' According to the staff, these two teachers have made nearly all the difference.

The Mathematics teacher, J. Yashoda and the English teacher, Nirmala Vijayarani, put in `extraordinary efforts' to coach the girls. "They would come in even on holidays and stay back after school hours to give the children special coaching," said a staff member. Appreciation was also accorded for the teachers handling Science and Social Sciences, as well, as the girls have scored high marks in the two subjects. Students scored 98 per cent in Science and 91 per cent in Social Sciences.

Another distinction this time is that the students have scored the highest total that the school has ever recorded. Nishanthi stood school first with a total of 442 marks, no surprise as far as the teachers were concerned. According to them, Nishanthi, who had lost both parents, has been living in the girls' home right from the beginning and has never had major problems with studies. N. Sudha came second with 436 marks and N. Gowri brought up the rear with 409 marks.

The headmistress says the school strength had come down to 21 (standard X) in the last year, because of district-wise distribution of students. A total of 280 girls study in the school but the number would fluctuate constantly, because the students were mostly a `floating population'.

"This is also a hurdle we have to overcome. Children come in and go out at any time, depending on the circumstances at home, or their punishment, but we cannot refuse to take them into school," she says.

However, the mood of the moment is one of joy and achievement on the campus. Students are excited about the pass percentage and are now emboldened to nurture hopes for themselves. As for the headmistress, the feeling of elation is supreme. "We are all in special circumstances and have worked very hard, so everything is an achievement for us," she says.

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