Teacher transforms in to career mentor

Allinagaram in Theni district of Tamil Nadu is a typical municipal town. However, nestled among its population of nearly a lakh people, with its literacy level of around 78 per cent (higher than the national average of 73 per cent) is a dedicated school teacher on a mission: train the students of government schools to crack the service commission exams enabling them to bag a secure future for themselves.

K Senthil Kumar, who teaches Tamil at the government higher secondary school in the town known for its scenic splendour has already set off on a scorching pace. In the last three years, since his organisation ‘Thinnai’ (raised platform, found outside village homes in south India) was set up, with a committed band of supporters in tow has already mentored over 150 candidates placed as government officials by now.

Elaborating on his life-changing initiative, Senthil Kumar says ‘In 2006, I was an aspirant for the state government jobs and found it very difficult to crack the tests, despite being a Tamil teacher myself. It led me to wonder how future aspirants, especially from government schools and village backgrounds will attempt to overcome this hurdle. So, a small group of enthusiasts, interested in genuinely doing something useful for these students, got together.

It comprised retired school headmasters and state government employees, who oriented the prospective candidates.’ That initiative fructified into a happy outcome, with five students getting into government service. Obviously, the torrent of talent mentoring, done totally free of cost, would not stop here. Currently, a proud Senthil Kumar, as reported in the Tamil daily Dinamani informs ‘We are now a 24-member group, having trained over 1500 students, out of which 170 are state government employees’.

Interested candidates appear for an entrance test, a fairly simple ready reckoner of sorts, after which they are made into batches of 250-300 students each. Presently, five batches are undergoing training with classes being held for five months on weekends from morning to late evening.

Basing the training on a customised text book, which runs into a whopping 1200 pages, Thinnai volunteers now include professionals and domain experts who subject the candidates to a minimum of two mock tests. A hallmark of the outfit’s success is that it has recently seen an auto driver getting recruited for a Group-II post with the government.

Senthil Kumar’s next target is to train the civil services aspirants in the town which has seen him do his bit for socio-economic uplift of a set of youth who would otherwise be directionless. Now 12 students had been a new lease of life when their college fee was paid by volunteers, given their family’s financial status. Kumar is also exploring the idea of IIT coaching for the sharp ones he has identified, as he feels that a teacher’s role can go beyond the classroom to shape up good, socially conscious citizens too.

By K Naresh Kumar