Chennai: Chennai High School at Rangarajapuram is on a roll. For the past two years, the school has secured hundred per cent results in the SSLC exams.
Speaking to News Today, the headmistress said, “Our aim has always been to make sure that the students pass.”
She points out that the teachers focus on making sure that the youngsters do not discontinue their education.
“Most of the children in this school belong to economically-backward families. So what happens is that many of them are forced to work, but we consistently emphasise the importance of education and tell the parents not to let their children work,” she said.
Teachers here work way beyond their pay grades. For instance, prior to the board examinations, special classes were organised at 8 am before actual school commenced. Also, extra sessions were held until 5 pm, after regular working hours.
“Sometime, we also took classes on Sundays. But these programmes were held only with the parents’ approval. For many of the students, it is difficult to study at home. That is why we held extra classes to make them complete the portions at school,” she noted.
To focus on individual students, the class 10 pupils were split into batches of five, and for each subject, teachers were assigned to cover the syllabus.
“This helped us to identify weak students and those who could study well,” she explained. To boost the morale among those preparing for the exams, the school also invited many scholars to deliver motivational speeches.
The headmistress was thankful to NGOs also pitching in. One of them provides snacks during the special classes. It is not uncommon for even the teachers to provide snacks for the children who mostly come to school on empty stomachs.
“We could manage to give good results because we regularly held counselling sessions,” she said.