The government run-Elite School in the district is once again in the news.
The school, established exclusively for Plus One and Plus Two, was started in 2013. Then Collector Nandakumar was the brain behind the project.
The school has been producing good results year after year, teachers say, with at least 10 students getting into merit category in engineering. In 2015 (prior to NEET), 10 students got admission in government medical colleges.
The objective of starting the school was to enable the poorest of the poor in the district, who scored above 400 in class 10 examination, join the Elite School. The Collector realised that the students may not be able to afford the exorbitant fee collected in private schools. Hence, he brought in like-minded senior teachers from different government schools to produce the best brains from the district.
Toppers from the school have stood up to the expectations of teachers, considering that their family background was not only economically weak, but many of their parents had little knowledge about education, teachers said.
Speaking to The Hindu, Thavaram Kumar, physics teacher, said they were happy with the results.
Son of a cab driver in Rameswaram, Athavan topped with 565.
Arunkumar, whose lost his mother and was under the care of his aunt, came second with 556. Santosh Kumar stood third with 528. His father was a mason.
Collector K. Veera Raghava Rao and Chief Educational Officer Pugalendhi congratulated the students and teachers.