PALAKKAD: All the 41 tribal students, who appeared for the SSLC examination from the Giri Vikas centre, set up jointly by the District Administration and the Nehru Yuva Kendra at Malampuzha, passed the examination with a record of 100 per cent this time.

Among a total 21 girl students 14 of them passed in second class. This achievement despite various problems ranging from increasing cases of drops outs and lack of general interest by students, has proved a working model for other Attappadi schools to emulate.

In the four High Schools in Attapadi, the pass percentage is very low. In the Government High School, Agali, the pass percentage was below five per cent. Moreover, all the schools of Attapadi face a severe shortage of teachers since no one wanted to take up a posting there.

If at all they are posted they do not join duty and lobby for a better posting somewhere else. It was the former District Collector Ajay Kumar who mooted the idea of the Giri Vikas to be started in Palakkad under the Gurukulam model. The aim was to bring the tribal students who failed in the SSLC examination to Palakkad, provide them accommodation, food and coach them to face the exam properly. The first batch was started in 1993-94.

The classes are imparted by the volunteers of the Nehru Yuva Kendra for a measly salary of Rs 600 per subject per month. The teachers are given training for the same. The District Administration provides a grant of Rs 3.25 lakh annually for running the institution.

When it was noted that the qualifying examination for the various courses had been raised to pre-degree from last year the present District Collector Ellangovan had begun the pre-degree course also.

For the pre-degree course which began in the year 1999-2000 the pass percentage was 83 and there was a total of 33 students.

Some of the students who passed the pre-degree were also employed by the District Administration as social activists in the Attapadi area as part of disseminating information, education and communication to the tribals.

The Giri Vikas is run by a board headed by the District Collector. During the last eight years, out of the 360 tribal students who wrote the examination 321 of them have passed the examination.