Keralam tribal girl’s MBBS dream brought to fruition, courtesy a STEM education initiative

Ashwathi Mol K.P. says lack of funds should not dissuade anyone from studying; the fund part will somehow work out if one studies well. She would know. The odds were stacked against Ashwathi who hails from the Malavedan tribal community in the Chollanavayal settlement of Ranni Assembly constituency in Pathanamthitta district. Today, she is set to join Government Medical College, Kannur, to pursue her MBBS.

Ashwathi’s journey is a testament to the difference a dream and the guidance and support to realise it can make to a young student’s life.

Daughter of a daily-wage labourer Kunjumom K.R. and homemaker Sreedevi, Ashwathi with one older and one younger sibling was no stranger to hardship. When in Class X, she decided that she wanted to become a doctor after seeing an aunt suffer from cancer. Moreover, her settlement did not have a single doctor. They would either have to to go to a nearby settlement or head to the Ranni taluk hospital. She wanted to change that.

After completing her SSLC from Bethany High School, Ranni-Perunad, she moved to Dr. Ambedkar Memorial Model Residential Higher Secondary School, Kattela, in Thiruvananthapuram, for her higher secondary studies. A bright student who scored full A+ in the SSLC exams, she did not how how to go about cracking the entrance tests.

It was at the Kattela school that she was selected to the ‘Collector’s Super 100’, a STEM education initiative for marginalised girl children by the district administration of Thiruvananthapuram. Implemented by the NGO Kanal Innovations Charitable Trust with participation of the Women and Child Development department and Trenser Technology Solutions, Technopark, the programme aims at empowering 100 girls from tribal, coastal, Scheduled Caste, and economically weaker communities through quality educational support and sustained exposure to STEM.

The Super 100 initiative’s career guidance, mentoring, personality development, and interactions with experts and Civil Service officers all proved invaluable.

“They helped us gain confidence that we could achieve our dreams. They guided us on becoming more focussed and working towards our goals,” says Ashwathi.

She remembers a doctor from Pathanamthitta who explained to the participants how to study well for the medicine entrance tests as well as interactions with IAS officers Geromic George, Aswathy Srinivas, and Alfred O.V.

Ashwathi also mentions the programme’s near-peer mentoring structure with students coached by young engineer and doctor volunteers who are only a few years older than the participants themselves.

Ashwathi went on to score full A+ in the Class XII exams. She also appeared for the NEET exams in 2025, but could not secure a medical seat. She did not give up and attended coaching classes to sit for the exams again this year. The cancellation of the NEET exams followed by re-exams really tested her, but she came through to secure the Scheduled Tribe category rank of 19. Her parents are overjoyed, particularly since she will be the first one from the settlement to become a doctor.

Her tuition and couple of other fee are waived, but she does need to find funds for hostel and some other fee besides everyday expenses. Ashwathi though is not fazed, trusting in some door opening to see her realise the dream of becoming an oncologist.