JEE Main 2018: Special coaching classes help MP tribal students get closer to their IIT dream

Seventeen-year-old Aadesh Kunwar Singh is on cloud nine after he cleared JEE Main 2018 - his first step towards becoming a “bada sahab”.

Aadesh from Roli village in Alirajpur district always dreamt of becoming a government official after he saw some of them ordering their subordinates during government programmes. Aadesh, the first person from his family to complete Class 12, wants to become an engineer to boost agriculture in his area.

He didn’t know how to achieve his dreams until he was spotted for his hard work and passion by the teachers of Government Excellence School in Alirajpur two years ago. He then enrolled in the special classes organised by the tribal welfare department to help underprivileged tribal students like him to clear JEE.

The shy teenager is among the more than 200 underprivileged candidates from the tribal-dominated districts in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore division, who have cleared JEE Main 2018. There are 2,500 students from the state who have cleared JEE Main 2018.

The results of JEE Main 2018 for admissions to National Institute of Technology (NITs), Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs), Centrally Funded Technical Institute (CFTI), Self-Financed Institutes (SFIs), and other institutes were announced on Monday.

These students were given special coaching in Government Excellence Schools in Jhabua, Alirajpur, Dhar, Barwani, Khargone, Burhanpur and Khandwa in the past two years.

This is the first time that such a large number of tribal students have qualified for JEE Advanced for admission to Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and other top engineering institutes.

“We are happy for the students as many of them had never even heard about IIT JEE and now they have taken their first step towards studying in the prestigious engineering institutes,” Jhabua Government Excellence School principal Ayesha Kureshi said.

Assistant commissioner with the tribal welfare department Ganesh Bhabar said the students in the schools are taught by experts through virtual classes and video conferences.

“We never thought that the number of successful candidates would increase to 212 from 10 in just four years,” he added.

The students and their families said the classes have helped them in achieving their goals.

“The coaching didn’t only help the candidates by giving right direction to students who belong to poor and illiterate families but also helped them in achieving success,” Milesh Singh, who scored 50 marks and cleared the JEE Main 2018, said.

Karishma Singh’s mother Shanti Singh said she was happy that her daughter will fulfil her dream of living a respectable life.

“We never thought that my daughter would be ever able to clear the entrance exam like IIT JEE Main but today I am happy for her,” she added.