“While many people have had reservations with Corporation schools, the academic performance this year has shown that they are no less than other schools in the city,” Corporation Commissioner C. Kathiravan said on Friday.
Students who topped the class ten and twelve exams from the corporation schools were honoured with ‘Amma awards’ instituted by the State government for the first time in Madurai, at an event hosted by the City Corporation.
Speaking at the event, Mr. Kathiravan said that the schools from the Madurai Corporation had performed better than other corporation schools in the district and lauded the joint effort of the students and teachers.
M. Sangeetha, a student of Kasthuribai Gandhi Girls Higher Secondary School who topped the plus two exams with 1,162 marks and a centum in Physics, was given a cash prize of Rs. 50,000. In the SSLC examinations, S. Krishnaveni from Thiru.Vi.Ka Higher Secondary School (HSS) and P. Anusuya from Kakkai Padiniyaar Girls Higher Secondary School who secured 494 marks also bagged a cash award of Rs. 50,000 each.
Students who had secured the second and third place as well as centum scorers were given cash awards. Kasthuribai Gandhi Girls Higher Secondary School was awarded a rolling trophy for academic performance of the students in both plus two and SSLC exams.
In the plus two public examinations this year, 15 corporation schools recorded an overall pass percentage of 93.61 and in the SSLC examinations, 24 Corporation schools in the city recorded an overall pass percentage of 94.48.
Addressing the gathering, Mayor V.V. Rajan Chellappa said that the State government would take steps to fund the education of underprivileged students if needed. “We will also conduct motivation classes for students and faculty members of the corporation schools and have made arrangements for after-school classes to be conducted in the schools,” he said.