B. Sadhana, the topper in the Class X board examination among students of the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) schools, aims to become a medical doctor and will prepare for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) through the free coaching classes offered by the civic body.
“My sister, B. Sandhiya, is an engineer. I want to be a doctor. I aspire to give free medical services to people of my community in the future,” she said, and added that she would first have to crack NEET with flying colours before deciding on a stream of medicine to purseu.
Her mother, B. Vijayalakshmi, 44, a native of Rameshwaram, who works as a domestic help in Chennai, said: “We cannot pay for courses in private colleges. We hope she scores high in the Class XII examination and NEET so she can get a seat in a government medical college under the 7.5% horizontal reservation for government school students.”
Highlighting her daughter’s achievements in sports, Ms. Vijayalakshmi said since there was no space in their house to display the medals and trophies that Ms. Sadhana had won, she had stored them in the attic.
“Five of us live in the Tamil Nadu Urban Housing Development Board tenements at Pushpa Nagar in Besant Nagar. It is cramped and noisy. My daughter goes to school by 7 a.m., where she studies. The headmistress, Girija, is with the students at all times, be it 7 a.m. or 8 p.m., to guide them,” said P. Balamurugan, 50, Sadhana’s father.
Her parents said she also would help her classmates and juniors with their studies often and had a passion for learning.
