Having scored 491 out of 500 marks in the SSLC examinations this year, S. A. Mohammed Ameer Suhail was at a crossroads after the sudden death of his father in March, when Islamic Literacy Movement of India (ILMI) showed him the way.
Today, Suhail is one of the 98 Muslim students selected for a special coaching at Islamia Matriculation Higher Secondary School here, the only centre in the State to have been established by the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs.
(The Ministry’s ‘New component of special coaching and allied scheme’ helps minority students from poor families to pass Plus Two examinations with high marks and join professional courses.)
Suhail stood helpless when his father, who was running a fancy store at Ilampillai in Salem, died of heart attack. He learnt about the facility through ILMI’s announcement in the local mosque. “Besides the best coaching, I am getting everything free here and I am confident of cherishing my dream of becoming a doctor,” he says.
For K.S. Shahid Mohiyadeen, whose father is a casual labourer, S. Faridha Banu, whose father is a daily wage worker, and Naurin Nasser, who had lost her father while in class IX, the centre is a dream come true. All of them aspire to become doctors. Most of the students selected for special coaching hail from rural areas and economically weaker families.
They are delighted to get the best coaching by a team of faculty, which has served in Namakkal schools, famous for producing State toppers.
After K.N. Basha, Judge, Madras High Court, inaugurated the centre on June 22, two officials from the Ministry inspected it and were satisfied with the facilities and faculty members, Principal H. Mabel Austus said.
The government had announced a subsidy of Rs.1 crore for 100 students per year, but the school, run by the local Educational Development Committee, would be spending at least Rs.50 lakh more as it provided free uniforms, shoes and stationery, its correspondent M. M. K. Mohideen Ibrahim said. The additional expenditure would be equally borne by the committee and the ILMI.
More than 1,400 students had applied for the coaching and the selected candidates had scored 96 to 99 per cent, ILMI founder Maulana S. Shamsudeen Qasimi said. The ILMI created awareness of the facility through 8,000 mosques in the State, he added.
