Five students, including three girls, who were unable to go to school and were working in different parts of the district three years ago have completed Class X this year.
The National Child Labour Project (NCLP) had rescued the child workers and enrolled them in its special schools and later in the regular schools.
Of the five students, Radhamani from Pollachi has scored 404 in the exams this year and S. Sathish Kumar of Karadimadai has scored 388.
District Collector Archana Patnaik felicitated the students here on Friday. While the girls plan to join Class XI, the boys want to do diploma in mechanical engineering.
The State Government gives stipend to the students who continue higher education.
Our Staff Reporter in Salem adds:
A child labour rescued from a power loom unit scored 496 marks in the SSLC examinations.
R. Ahila scored centum in Mathematics, Science and Social Science while scoring 98 each in Tamil and English subjects. She was rescued and enrolled in the special school run under NCLP in Thiruvalluvar Nagar and completed her Class V. Later, she was enrolled in a private school to continue her regular education. Both her parents were labourers.
Likewise, rescued child labourers from power loom K. Thenmozhi scored 483 marks while G. Padmapriya scored 488 marks.
The Society for Monitoring and Implementation of Child Labour Elimination told The Hindu that of the total 221 child labours rescued from various industries, 185 students have cleared the SSLC exams by pursuing education in regular schools this year. They added that 40 students have scored more than 400 marks while 36 have failed.
