Kannur: The maximum distance Rekha P., a tribal student of Aralam Farm Gover-nment High School, had travelled till this week, was her trip to Kannur town, in bus. On Wednesday, as promised by the district administration, Rekha, and her friends, who marked a cent per cent win in the Class 10 examination, reached Kochi on a tour with their teachers. On Friday, they will take the first flight of their life, from Kochi to Karipur, on their return journey.

The flight tickets for the 38 students, including the passed out students and Class IX students, were sponsored by HPCL as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme, said district collector Mir Mohammed Ali.

The accommodation and other expenses of the team were taken care of by the Social Justice department, he added.

“The huge malls of Kochi are something we could not even imagine in our dreams. Teachers said they will take us to water theme park tomorrow. Next day, we will be flying, that too for the first. All of us are thrilled,” said Rekha.
Though the school, consisting of only tribal students, had been achieving cent per cent results for the past five years, the pass percentages were just nominal. However, this time, the students performed really well and most of them achieved more than 50 per cent marks, said Sasikala T., who teaches at the school for the past three years.

Only 13 of the 26 students who passed the examination could join the trip this time, and they included the Class IX students also this time, as an inspiration for the next batch, the teacher said. Along with sightseeing, the students were also taken out for a boat cruise, before returning.