Pratibha awards presented

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, JUNE 19. The annual Pratibha awards were presented to the meritorious students of seventh, 10th and Intermediate classes by the Chief Minister, Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu, at a colourful function at the Lal Bahadur Stadium on Tuesday.

A large number of students, parents and teachers attended the meeting wherein the Chief Minister reiterated the commitment of his Government to achieve total literacy in the State by 2005 and listed out the initiatives taken to provide quality education to the students.

The awards were instituted by the State Government three years ago to recognise talent among the students and honour them at an annual function.

The Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court, Mr. Justice Mr. S.C. Sinha, described it as a unique occasion which enabled him to interact with the students. He wanted greater attention on tackling the vexatious problems of illiteracy and social evils like castiesm and communism. The emphasis of education should be to mould students into good citizens.

The Assembly Speaker, Mrs. K. Pratibha Bharathi, said that underprivileged students, who were unable to pursue studies for want of financial assistance, should be taken care of.

Listing out the efforts to boost the literacy rate from 44 per cent to 61.1 per cent, the Chief Minister regretted that about 33 lakh children in the age group of 5-14 years were still out of school.

Mr. K. Srihari, Minister for School Education, welcomed the gathering. The Minister for Higher Education, Mr. K. Ramachander Rao, said about 2,070 students were selected for this year's awards.

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Section  : Southern States
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