Malkangiri: Maoists, who had surrendered before police and then got enrolled in the six-month bridge course offered by the Indira Gandhi National Open University, appeared for the entrance examination on Tuesday.

On clearing the exam, the 102 former rebels will get direct admission to BA courses under the university.

The bridge course, also known as Bachelor's Preparatory Programme, is offered to those, who want to get a bachelor's degree but do not have the requisite Plus Two qualification.

No formal qualification is needed to join the bridge course, but one has to be at least 18 years old.

"At some point, these youths had been brainwashed into joining the Maoists. Some of them are primary school dropouts, while the others have never gone to school. They had surrendered with a desire to return to the mainstream, so we decided to make them self-reliant through education. It is a small effort on our part," said Malkangiri police superintendent Jagmoham Meena.

He said the surrendered rebels had initially been reluctant to resume their education but later agreed to do so after being counselled. "They were given free study materials and coaching," Meena said.

"I had never though that I would be able to resume my education again. I have studied hard to clear the entrance examination and aims to continue it," said a former rebel.

The police have appealed to other Maoists to drop arms. "It is our appeal to the misguided youths. They should return to the mainstream and avail themselves of the benefits of our surrender policy," Meena said.