Coached by NIT students, rural govt school student cracks JEE

“I never even knew there was something called Indian Institute of Technology till I reached SSLC,” says 17-year-old Arunkumar. The boy was in news recently after Chief Minister M K Stalin appreciated him for cracking JEE and getting a seat in IIT. Arunkumar has studied in a government higher secondary school and he is grateful for the free coaching provided by students of NIT-Trichy.

A seat in premium institutes like the Indian Institute of Technology is a dream for aspiring students. Arunkumar from Karadipatti village near Thuvarankurichi in Trichy district has achieved this feat despite all odds. The free coaching provided by students of the National Institute of Technology Trichy has turned out to be a boon for this student from a very poor background.

Having cracked JEE Advanced, Arunkumar is now going to IIT-Madras to study B.Tech Metallurgy and Material Science. Earlier, he had secured a seat at Chemical Engineering in IIT-Hyderabad. The journey so far was not smooth for the boy.

 

Arunkumar’s parents are agricultural labourers. He is the first graduate of his family. The family did manage to enroll him in English medium school for his primary. But, the family could not afford the fees. After the primary, he had to shift to a Tamil medium school in Kanchanaickanpatti village nearby. He scored 444 marks out of 500 in SSLC. He continued his higher secondary education at Govt Hr Sec School at Sevalpatti.

During this time, Trichy District Administration collaborating with NIT-Trichy launched a coaching programme called IMPULSE. The deserving students were selected for the free coaching. The students have to clear an entrance exam for enrollment.

Arunkumar managed to crack this entrance exam. For the next two years, he was coached by NIT students. “I learnt that NIT students are offering a coaching programme to crack JEE exams. So, I attempted the entrance exam and cleared it. I started attending the free coaching classes at NIT Trichy during weekends. The covid19 outbreak, however, confined us to online classes,” he stated.

But the online classes had their challenges. Arunkumar’s father bought a smartphone spending Rs 10,000 which is a huge amount for a family of five. He has two siblings. “In a way, the online classes turned out to my advantage. I had a lot of free time and I was glued to my phone studying,” the boy said.

Arunkumar secured 17,069th rank in JEE. It enabled him to appear for JEE Advance. He secured 12,175th rank this time. When the community ranking was applied, he secured 2,503rd rank under OBC (Non-creamy layer). During the counseling, Arunkumar was allotted a seat at IIT-Hyderabad. The second round of counseling helped him to secure a seat at IIT-M.

The state government has come forward to bear the education expenses of Arunkumar. The announcement came as a breather for the family. They were worried about the hostel and other expenses. “We are immensely thankful to the Chief Minister for this gesture. My ambition is to get a good job after studies and take care of my family,” he said. He would think about higher studies later, he added.

IGNITTE is the student club of NIT-Trichy. The club conducts an IMPULSE coaching programme for deserving students, says A Dinesh Kumar convener of the programme. They are collaborating with the Trichy district administration to find 30 suitable candidates out of 300 aspirants every year. Two students trained under the programme the previous year managed to get seats in NIT-Trichy. Arunkumar cracked JEE this year. “We are glad that our efforts are yielding results,” he added.