The Forest Government Higher Secondary School at Nellivasal Nadu, a tribal village in the Jawadhu Hills in Tirupattur, has bettered its performance in the Plus Two examination, securing a 98% pass this year, as against 95% in 2022.
Except one student, the 51 others, including 22 girls, have cleared the examination. Over 40% of them have secured the first class. These students are the Plus Two second batch after the school was upgraded in 2021. “We are happy that our daughter passed the examination with good marks. Now, she has to travel a long distance to pursue her college education,” said V. Kannammal, a parent.
Built in 1952, it is the second oldest forest school. The first one was built at Jamunamarathur in Tiruvannamalai district in 1951. The school was upgraded as a middle school in 1990 and as a high school in 2005. It was upgraded further in 2021 when the school had 314 students, including 144 girls. “The number of dropouts, especially girls, has come down after the upgrade. Most of the 27 Plus Two students, who passed last year, have joined colleges in Tirupattur, Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri,” said headmaster K. Chandrakumar, 58, who has been teaching tribal students for 33 years.
Nellivasal Nadu comprises eight tribal hamlets, including Puliyur, Melpattu, Nellipattu, Malayanallipattu and Malai Tirupattur, having over 30,000 voters.
The other two forest tribal schools are at Pudur Nadu in Tirupattur and Jamanamarathur in Tiruvannamalai. The Pudur Nadu school has secured a 94% pass and the Jamunamarathur school has posted 90%.
Education Department officials said it was not an easy achievement for the Nellivasal Nadu students because the school does not have a science laboratory or adequate classrooms. They would trek 14 km to the Pudur Nadu school to take the practical classes. Of 15 teachers, seven, including the headmaster, stayed at Nellivasal Nadu because there are no frequent bus services to Tirupattur, around 46 km away. A lone bus service plies twice a day, in the morning and the evening.
