VIT offers free BE for rural toppers

Updated on: Saturday, June 16, 2012

Aishwarya, daughter of construction worker C. Arjunan, never dreamed of joining a prestigious institution like VIT University, Vellore.

“Though I wanted to pursue higher education, I was sure my father would not be able to support me. My aim was only to join a government college but a call from VIT University came as a pleasant surprise to me and now I will do B.Tech (ECE) in VIT,” said Aishwarya, who hails from Gajalnaickenpatty village, Vellore.

She had secured 1,138 marks in the plus-two examination. A Vellore district topper, Aishwarya is one among the 18 students given admission in VIT University on Friday under support the advancement of rural students (STARS) scheme, which was launched in 2008.

Under STARS scheme, toppers (a boy and girl) from rural government schools in each district are chosen to pursue higher education free of cost and are also given training in English language.

District toppers from nine districts - Kancheepuram, Vellore, Tiruvannamalai, Thiruvallur, Cuddalore, Villupuram, Salem, Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri - attended the counselling and 18 students were selected to join B.Tech and B.Com courses in the university. The counselling for other districts will be held at four centres across the state.

All 18 students are first-time learners. Lenin B, a district topper in Vellore, has been chosen in the boys category.

His father S. Bhaskaran, a weaver, said, “I earn Rs 100 a day and this is the first time I’m stepping into a university. I’m happy that my son will study engineering here.”

For C. Valarmathi, who studied in Karimangalam girls higher secondary school, Dharmapuri, a seat in VIT was unimaginable.

“Both my parents have never been to school and are sick now. My father, a labourer, worked in a company in Mumbai and I studied till class 7 there.

I was not able to continue my studies as my father could not pay the fees. We came to Chennai and I joined a school and completed plus-two.

I will be joining B.Com (CA) and my dream is to pursue IAS,” said Valarmathi. Though her mother Mathammal doesn’t know anything about education, she said she was happy to see her daughter receive a certificate on stage.
G.V. Sampath, vice-president, VIT University, who gave away admission letters to the students, told them to be confident and work hard to achieve their goals.

VIT offers free BE for rural toppers

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