Comes out with flying colours, despite odds

Updated on: Saturday, May 14, 2011

Tucked inside a quiet residential locality is a government institution that has been diligently serving poor, helpless and abandoned women.

The Government Service Home Girls Higher Secondary School in Tambaram Sanatorium, under the Department of Social Welfare, gives shelter to destitutes, widows and orphaned women and also a few orphaned boy children.

There is also a full-fledged school and a teacher training institution and it is a fully residential institution.

This year, there was a reason for the staff and teachers to be joyous as one of its students secured a State rank in the Plus-Two examinations, results of which were declared on Monday.

D. Priya, a student of Vocational Group (Health), secured 927 marks, including centum in practicals, and high marks in the rest of her subjects, including medical lab assistant, chemistry and foundation science apart from Tamil and English.

A native of Narthampatti in Dharmapuri District, Priya has been studying in the school for the past two years. The second among three sisters, Priya was elated while speaking over phone to her teachers at her school.

Her father, David Raj, is a painter and mother, Lourdu Mary, is a daily wage earner. It was the family's economic condition that led her to the government school in Tambaram Sanatorium two years ago. Her elder sister Priyanka too has completed Plus-Two this year in the commerce group and scored 65 per cent.

Her younger sister Preetha is in class IX. “I want to pursue engineering and am quite confident that I will get admission with my marks,” she told The Hindu over phone.

Priya is not deterred by the financial constraints she might face. “My parents are ready to work hard and support me. I am confident of becoming an engineer,” she says. This indefatigable spirit stems from the institution as nearly all women students overcome odds to succeed in the public examinations. For instance, Kavitha (31) passed Plus-Two examinations scoring 54 per cent marks.

There are many others like Kavitha who come to the institution after all help runs out. Some women have children, who are taught in the nursery school on the premises. Grown up boys are shifted to other schools, while girl children continue their higher studies. The school was started in 1948 and was functioning in the city before shifting to the present location in sylvan surroundings eight years later.

Comes out with flying colours, despite odds

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