School teachers too run the last mile

Every day, J. Robinson, principal of Kaligi Ranganatha School, Ayanavaram, leaves his house at 3.45 a.m. and visits the homes of each of his class X students to check if they have woken up to study.

With over 10 lakh students appearing for the Class X examinations, which start on Thursday, last-minute revisions are frantically on in many households. For the teachers too, board exams are a test of their work over the past year. Some teachers and principals, though, go the extra mile to ensure their children do well in the examination.

At Mr. Robinson’s school, they welcome students who have been asked to leave other schools in class IX because of poor performance. “Even to become a taxi driver, these students need a class X certificate, so I encourage them to do well,” Mr. Robinson said.

Making a good student do well is not difficult, making even the weakest of students pass all the exams is the challenge, said E.K. Udhayasuriyan, headmaster, Government Girls Higher Secondary School at Podhattoorpet in Thiruvallur district. Every evening, he and five of his colleagues visit the houses of 15 of the school’s students who are appearing for board exams.

“Most of our girls are first-generation students, and we want to ensure they continue to be interested in studying,” he said. The personal attention has led to a 13 per cent rise in pass percentage in the Class X exams from previous years.

N. Kumar, headmaster of Chennai High School, Subbarayan Street, Shenoy Nagar, adopts a number of ways to keep tabs on his students and sometimes, even their parents.

He collects all the possible contact numbers for a pupil, just so that he can check whether they are studying. “Often, parents don’t answer calls from me, so I get other relatives and even neighbours’ contact details,” Mr. Kumar said.

For the past month, 25 boys of the 95 students appearing for Class X exams have been staying back in the school every day. “Their parents drop off their dinner and the teachers and some parents pool in money to get breakfast from the Amma Unavagam. Special coaching takes place for them till 11 p.m.,” he said.

As class X exams loom, staff and school heads are adopting various strategies to ensure their children cross the hurdle