Students from weaker sections excel in SSC exam

Tirupati: The performance of Sri Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Municipal High School (SPJNMHS) here in the SSC examination this year amply reveals that the children of weaker sections were in no way inferior to students belonging to the forward castes in achieving success in studies.

The weaker sections dominated the municipal high school recorded 84 per cent pass percentage in the SSC examination. It is important to note the top five students in the examination were from the weaker sections. Over 110 weaker section students against the total students of 154 appeared for SSC examination this year.

R Theja Sree from the washermen’s community and B Nivedita, a Kuraba girl scored 9.5 (A1), K Nithin belongs to SC(Mala) and Y Bheemesh, a ST (Yerukula) got 9.3 and Chandu, another SC boy got 9.2 Grade Point Average (GPA) in the SSC examination.

Speaking to The Hans India here on Sunday, headmistress P Varalakshmi said that 70 per cent of total 600 students studying in the municipal high school were from the social welfare hostels including SC, ST and BCs from a very poor socio-economic background.

However, they were all doing well in studies, thanks to the growing awareness among members belonging to these communities, she added. Interestingly, the pass percentage of English medium candidates is much higher than Telugu medium students.

In the English medium, 52 students passed out of 55 while in Telugu medium, 78 were successful out of the 99 who appeared. “On our part, we took several measures to improve the performance of the students.

Classes were conducted from 8 am to 8 pm for the SSC candidates and we provided snacks to them,’’ she said, adding that the teachers regularly met the parents to apprise them of the progress of their wards in studies and motivated them to do well.

This year, a section officer from the municipal corporation was deputed to monitor the intense coaching classes held for the SSC students and he also visited the parents regularly gearing up efforts to improve the performance of the students in SSC, she explained.

Varalakshmi said the special efforts of State government and Municipal Administration Minister P Narayana’s frequent visits gave a big boost to municipal schools.

She said the appointment of a special officer exclusively to look after the municipal schools in the state has enhanced the standard of teaching and facilities to improve their performance in SSC examination. “All these efforts helped us to make a big jump in the school final examination from 50 per cent in last year to 84 per cent in SSC this year,’’ she said.

Thayanna father of Bheemesh, a tribal student from SPJNMH, who scored 9.3 CPA, said he would never forget the special interest taken by school headmistress Varalakshmi and teachers as they were solely responsible for his son’s success in SSC.

“I am a school dropout and only can sign my name while my wife is an illiterate. We constantly move from one place to another for our livelihood by selling winnow baskets made of bamboo (Chata), leaving my son in the tribal welfare hostel in Tirupati. Bheemesh is the first one from my family who passed SSC and made us proud,’’ he said over the phone from Nizamabad where he and his wife were staying for their business.

By G Sridhar