Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Saturday launched the ‘Kalloori Kanavu’ programme under the ‘Naan Mudhalvan’ initiative which aims to guide and counsel students who have completed Class XII.
At the function held at Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium, he said students were the intellectual assets of the State and it was the duty of the government to help them grow. Students from government and government-aided schools participated in the event.
Mr. Stalin also cited examples of renowned scientist and former president APJ Abdul Kalam, former ISRO director Mayilsamy Annadurai and chairman K. Sivan and Chief Secretary V. Irai Anbu and Director General of Police C. Sylendra Babu who studied in government schools and made it big in their respective fields. “They are fine examples of how you can be successful even if you have studied in Tamil medium in government schools,” he added.
“Tamil Nadu has been leading in parameters like literacy rate, quality of education, gross enrolment ratio, among others and we have to move further and that is the education policy we follow and ‘Kalloori Kanavu’ programme is one such scheme,” Mr. Stalin pointed out.
The programme will be held in all districts on June 29, 30, July 1 and July 2.
He also urged the students entering college to stay focused and not to get their attention diverted, keeping in mind the dreams and hard work of their parents. He also requested the students and parents not to focus only on engineering and medical streams. Mr. Stalin pointed out there were ample opportunities available in other streams as well.
“Thirty colleges from Tamil Nadu feature among 100 colleges in India and there is ample opportunity for everyone to become graduates,” Mr. Stalin said. He also told students they would be part of his vision of skilling 2 million youth by 2026 and the State becoming a $1 trillion economy by 2030.
Mr. Stalin said while aspects like economy, wealth, caste, religion, authority, experience, countries were measured using various yardsticks which kept changing, only knowledge was measured using the same yardstick. “Thiruvalluvar and Karl Marx are celebrated worldwide for their knowledge,” he added.