Date:18/09/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/09/18/stories/2007091860370400.htm

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

“Women’s education will improve men’s life”

Staff Reporter

Three Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan projects launched

— PHOTO: S.THANTHONI

A BEGINNING: Member of Parliament Kanimozhi and School Education Minister Thangam Thennarasu with students of Kasturba Gandhi Girls Residential School in Chennai on Monday.

CHENNAI: Education of girl children will reflect in a host of social indicators. Women’s education can improve the quality of life of men, Member of Parliament Kanimozhi said here on Monday.

She was speaking at the launch of Active Learning Methodology (ALM), ‘Padippum Inikkum’ scheme and 16 Kasturba Gandhi Girls Residential Schools — projects undertaken by the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) wing of the School Education Department.

The ALM, designed for students of classes VI to VIII, was jointly developed by the SSA and Chennai-based The School (Krishnamurti Foundation India). The methodology is aimed at equipping students with skills to read, comprehend and recall information using tools such as mind maps and other pictorial representations of concepts.

The Kasturba Gandhi Girls Residential Schools, established at a cost of Rs.5.83 crore, would benefit 950 students. ‘Padippum Inikkum’, a project launched in five districts last year, was extended to all other districts, following promising results it showed. Developed by non-governmental organisation Aid India, the scheme has modules to strengthen reading skills of students.

Ms.Kanimozhi said students from government schools usually lacked confidence to compete with their urban counterparts in job interviews.

Learning by rote was dangerous not just to the students but to society as well, she said. “These projects will help to build a new generation that has great understanding of the subjects and immense confidence to handle interviews. This is the beginning of a silent revolution.”

Commending the team behind the projects, she said they showed great involvement, interest and commitment.

“The Chief Minister has given the Ministry to someone very trustworthy and capable,” she said, lauding the efforts of School Education Minister Thangam Thennarasu.

Mr.Thennarasu said the State Government believed that ensuring quality at primary level would ensure improvement in the entire educational set-up.

“From a Rs.7,000 crore budgetary allocation (of which nearly 50 per cent went to primary education) to backing new initiatives aimed at addressing quality, the State Government is more than willing to have essential changes made at the right time,” he said.

He said the impact of these projects at schools where they were pilot-tested prompted the department to extend them to all districts.

“With the cooperation of teachers, I am sure we will reach our goal of achieving better quality. I am very happy that someone who campaigns for several social causes is here to launch the projects,” he said.

M.Kutralingam, School Education Secretary, Rajendra Kumar, additional secretary, M. P. Vijayakumar, SSA’s State project director, Madhav Chauhan, programme director of Pratham, an NGO working in the area of education, Balaji Sampath, Aid India secretary and Sumithra Gauthama, The School coordinator, were among those present on the occasion.