Tailor's daughter scores 591 in Class 12, repeats Class 10, 11 feat

V KEERTHIKA, the daughter of a newspaper delivery man and a factory tailor, has topped Chennai in the Class 12 board examinations by scoring 591 out of 600—the highest among all Chennai Corporation schools.

- PRAVEENA S A @Chennai

V KEERTHIKA, the daughter of a newspaper delivery man and a factory tailor, has topped Chennai in the Class 12 board examinations by scoring 591 out of 600—the highest among all Chennai Corporation schools. A student of Chennai Girls' Higher Secondary School in Pulla Avenue, Shenoy Nagar, Keerthika has once again made her parents proud, as she was a topper in both classes 10 and 11.

Despite her academic brilliance, financial constraints have now forced Keerthika to alter her higher education plans. The savings from her scholarship amount of ₹53,000 were recently used to pay her brother's BTech college fees. With this, an engineering course, her first choice, is no longer an option, says Keerthika. She is now planning to enroll in an arts college, with political science or a related subject and go on to prepare for civil services.

Keerthika lives with her family in the Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board tenements in TP Chatram, Shenoy Nagar. "Residing on the ground floor, our toilets often get clogged. Though the government staff respond to our complaints after repeated calls, there's never a permanent fix."