THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Sometimes, all it takes is a helping hand for a person to achieve their dreams. The right guidance or support system could well do the trick for an aspirant. One such exemplary initiative – the Collector’s ‘Super 100’ – is being executed under the supervision of the Thiruvananthapuram district collector.

Active for the past two academic years, the scheme was initially aimed at the academic and professional uplift of 100 female students from the coastal and tribal communities of the district. This academic year, the ‘Super 100’, which started off with around 25 students selected from Classes 9 to 12, is set for changes.

“Henceforth, the scheme will include students from the Scheduled Caste and economically weaker sections,” Thiruvananthapuram Collector Anu Kumari told TNIE.

Implemented by the district administration and executed by the Kanal Innovations Charitable Trust, the scheme tries to support students aspiring for a career in the STEM fields – science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

“Alongside the existing sessions, we are planning to introduce regular assessment to evaluate the students’ performance. More than scoring a definite percentage of marks, we want their fundamentals improved,” she said.

The move is expected to help trainees crack entrance exams more easily. “The activities will have an increased focus on academics than in previous years, with the involvement of both students and parents,” the district collector said.

Initiated by the then district collector Geromic George in 2023, and with its name derived from the 2019 Bollywood blockbuster Super 30, the scheme falls under the Union government’s ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ initiative. Besides classroom lessons, students are taken on ‘exposure’ visits to institutions working in the STEM fields, like ISRO. “The social backwardness of students can be solved by academic uplift,” said Anson P D Alexander, the founder of Kanal.

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