Ramnad jumps to state second rank

The district administration has dedicated the success to its sustained efforts to train students from the weaker economic section. Ramanathapuram district, viewed as one of the backward and dry districts in the state, finished next only to state toppers Virudhunagar district who finished top of the heap at 97.85 per cent. 

In Ramanathapuram district, 7,339 boys and 8,497 girls wrote the school final exams to make for a total of 15,836 students. In the boys’ section 7,051 students cleared the exams with a pass percentage of 96.08. In the girl’s section, 8,274 got through for an overall percentage of 97.38. 

Last year, Ramanathapuram district, with overall pass percentage of 95.04, had secured only the ninth position. 

Out of 133 schools in the district, 52 schools had scored centum pass. The list included 23 government schools, nine aided schools and 20 private schools. Last year, only eight government schools had scored centum pass but this year, the number increased to 23 due to special schemes  initiated by the district administration. 

The district administration had initiated a scheme called ‘Elite Students’ scheme and in the initiative, economically backward students who had studied in government schools and had scored top marks in SSLC were selected. These students were given special training like free tuition. Their performance was regularly monitored and if they had scored low marks in the internal tests, special care was extended to them. In 2016-17, 66 ‘Elite Students’ had scored over 1,000 marks, said Ramanthapuram district Collector, Nagarajan. 

Apart from the ‘Elite Students’ scheme, weekly tests for government school students were conducted every Saturday. A 30-minute test for 50 marks was conducted and was immediately evaluated.