The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Tsunami failed to deter them

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, May 19, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Tsunami failed to deter them

Vani Doraisamy

8,040 of 10,128 students were successful

CHENNAI: Contrary to widespread apprehensions, the tsunami has not adversely impacted the performance of students from the battered coastal districts in the Plus Two examinations, the results of which were announced here on Wednesday.

Out of the 10,128 students who took the examinations in the tsunami-affected areas in Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli, Tuticorin, Nagapattinam, Pondicherry, Villupuram, Cuddalore, Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur and Chennai, 8,040 emerged successful, the pass percentage being 79.38, above the state score of 76.8 per cent.

Even within the same districts, students in non-tsunami areas scored only 76.90 per cent.

Support

Helped by large doses of psychosocial support and educational aid offered by the district administration and voluntary organisations, some of the worst affected schools have put up stellar performances.

The Ammandivilai Government Higher Secondary School and the Manavalakurichi Bapuji Higher Secondary School, both in Kanyakumari district have cent per cent pass.

Ninety eight per cent passed out of the Crescent Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Nagore, 97 per cent out of the Vedaranyam Girls Higher Secondary School and 92 per cent out of the Akkaraipettai Government Higher Secondary School, all in Nagapattinam.

Among the districts, Villupuram emerged on top, followed by Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari, Tuticorin, Nagapattinam, Chennai, Cuddalore, Tiruvallur and Pondicherry. Karaikkal, however, fared poorly.

District administrations upbeat

The district administrations are understandably upbeat over the performance of the tsunami students.

"This is a memorable moment for all of us and all the credit should go to the students who put their trauma behind them and the voluntary organisations who got them back to school. Giving them extra tuition also helped,'' Kanyakumari Collector Sunil Paliwal told The Hindu.

Educational corpus

An educational corpus of Rs. 40 lakhs will be set up to help the students continue their studies.

"Despite their agony, most of the students were committed to doing well in the exams, especially after the special classes. We are trying to get experienced educational counsellors to tell them how to proceed further with their studies and career,'' Nagapattinam Collector J. Radhakrishnan said.

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