Fight against odds: Low marks force girl to take up goat grazing after school refuses admission

Amudha (16) of Valampatti village is the third daughter of Antonysamy and the fifth child in her family. Her father is a daily wage earner who grazes goats and is struggling to manage his family. 

Though Antonysamy lost his wife, he managed to educate all his children and Amudha too successfully passed the Class 10 exam but with low marks. 

Because of her marks, the Bharathiyar Centenary Government Girls Higher Secondary School in Ettayapuram, where she studied, has now denied her admission. Speaking to DT Next , Amudha said she had scored 296 in Class 10 and when she approached the school  for admission she was harassed by the teachers who questioned her what would she do by studying after getting low marks. 

After the incident, she is now assisting her father in grazing goats, said Amudha. Varadharajan, an activist from Ayanvadamalapuram village, said Amudha is not the only student from her village to face such a problem. There are five other girls from Valampatti who have been denied admission because of low marks. The government should take note of the issue and initiate action against the principal and the officials concerned of the Education Department, said Varadharajan. When contacted, officials of the Education Department at Kovilpatti and Thoothukudi said they were not aware of the incident and assured that they will pass instructions to all schools to admit students in Class 11 regardless of their marks.