P. Keerthiga of Reddipatti, a rescued child labourer, secured 485 marks (Tamil 94, English 94, Maths 100, Science 99 and Social Science 98) to finish second in the whole state among the rescued child labourers who appeared for the SSLC examinations.
Of the 210 students – boys 95 and girls 115 – who appeared for the public examinations, 185 students – boys 82 and girls 103 – emerged successful.
Salem district sent the maximum number of rescued child labourers for the SSLC examinations, among the 15 districts where the National Child Labour Project (NCPL) is under implementation in Tamil Nadu.
A total of 38 rescued child labourers scored more than 400 marks and another 84 aggregated more than 300 marks, P. V. Viswanathan, Project Director, NCLP, Salem district, told reporters here on Friday.
Keerthiga, daughter of K. Periasamy and Prabadevi, both power loom workers, initially could not continue beyond Class III due to poverty.
She too was employed in a silk rearing unit, when the NCPL teachers identified her. She was admitted in Class IV in SMILE Special School run under the NCLP at Reddipatti village.
Later, she was mainstreamed and was admitted in Class VI in South Indian Matriculation School, Kalipatti. Keerthiga wants to pursue B. Sc (Agriculture). “I want to innovate modern farm technologies to help the farming community of my area”, with lot of excitement writ on her face.
A. Keerthana of Thattheri near Sankagiri was another rescued child labourer. She scored 480 marks – Tamil 92, English 91, Maths 98, Science 99 and Social Science 100 – to be the Salem district second rank holder among the rescued child labourers.
Daughter of power loom worker parents, she was identified by NCLP teachers in 2007 and admitted in SMILE school in Thattheri in Class III. Later she was admitted in Class VI in Government Girls Higher Secondary School, Komarapalayam. She has opted for first group in Plus Two and her aim is to clear the Union Public Service Exams.
G. Mohana Priya of Edappadi is yet another success story of NCLP. Daughter of P. Gopalasamy, a power loom worker, she was a school drop out. She was identified during the 2010 survey and admitted to Government HSS, Edappadi in Class VIII. She scrored 477 marks to bag the Salem district third rank among the former child labourers.
All the three district toppers – Keerthiga, Keerthana and Mohana Priya – were felicitated by the District Collector K. Maharabushanam.
