Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said many students of Delhi Government schools from a humble economic background have qualified in the NEET 2020 and JEE 2020, and asserted that talent is not tied to money. He said money will not be a problem for the successful students in getting higher education as the Delhi Government has arranged for scholarships and loans of up to Rs 10 lakh for them. A total of 569 students of Delhi Government schools have qualified in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to medical colleges, while 443 have cleared the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE), with 53 of them being eligible for a direct admission to IITs, the chief minister said.
Of the 569 students who have qualified in the NEET, 379 (67 per cent) are girls, he added. There are 37 students who have secured ranks in the top 10,000 (category ranks) in the NEET. Twenty-nine students from a Delhi Government school in Moladband, 24 from a Yamuna Vihar school and 23 from a Noor Nagar school have qualified in the NEET, he said. Forty eight students of Delhi Government schools have scored over 520 marks out of 720 in the NEET, with Tamanna Goel bagging the 11th rank. Ms Goel's father is jobless while her mother works as a domestic help in neighbourhood houses, Mr Kejriwal said.
The father of Khush Garg, who has scored 680 marks, is a small shopkeeper, he added. Vidhi Gupta from SKV, GT Road, Shahdara, whose father works in a small private firm, has scored 691 marks with an all-India rank of 212. In the JEE, five students of RPVV, Paschim Vihar have qualified for the IITs. Ayush Bansal, whose father works at a bookshop, has bagged the 189th rank in the JEE, the chief minister said. Mr Nikhil, who got the 678th rank, has been offered aerospace engineering in IIT Bombay and his father repairs cycles. Garvit Batra bagged the 1,228th rank and his father is an airconditioner mechanic, Mr Kejriwal said.
The chief minister said it is his firm belief that good education can eradicate poverty from the country in one generation itself. The success stories of these students, coming from such a humble background, will inspire many more children to do well, he said.
"I am apprising you about these students and their background because talent is not determined by money. If given an equal opportunity and the right to quality education, children from lower-middle class families have the ability to achieve greater heights," the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader said. He said the performance is a testament to how Delhi Government schools are undergoing a revolutionary change and students from poor families studying in these schools are paving the way to success for themselves.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who also holds the education portfolio, said students of the Delhi Government schools have made the city proud with their performance in the advanced JEE and NEET. Many of these students will be the first doctor or engineer in their families, he said.
