KOCHI: Kerala has benefited greatly from its strong foundation in the field of universal school education, and the academic infrastructure set up by the government and the private sector by way of establishing educational institutions, said former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
He was speaking after inaugurating the function held to declare Kumbalangi as a model village, here on Friday.
“Now, it is the combined responsibility of the State Government, school managements, teachers, parents and the public to provide the necessary impetus for the effective implementation of the various schemes.
This village has been acclaimed a ‘model tourism village’, a ‘modern fisherman’s village’ and a ‘green village’. “This village is also going to be declared to be free of alcohol and narcotics addiction. Also, the local people have taken a pledge to maintain utmost cleanness and to avoid the use of plastic,” Manmohan Singh said.
The projects of Green Village, Clean Village, Drug-free Village, Nutritious Food for Children and Healthy Village were launched on the occasion, with various programmes.
One such programme is ‘Vidya Poshanam - Poshaka Samrdham’, under which 30,000 students from over 113 schools will be provided food supplements in their mid-day meals. The additional cost for the project are being met through the assistance extended by public and private sector institutions.
It is being implemented through the Parent Teacher Associations. Manmohan Singh handed over the funds required for the scheme to headmistresses of seven schools.
Another programme is the ‘Vidya Dhanam’ scheme, which is aimed at inculcating saving habit among Class-X and Plus-II students.
The scheme is expected to relieve the parents of the financial burden of arranging funds for the higher education of their children.
The other projects declared on the occasion were ‘Vidya Jyoti’, under which tablet computers will be distributed among academically brilliant Plus-I and Plus-II students; ‘Vigyan Veedhi’, under which additional study materials and books will be provided to Class-VIII and Class-XI students in the constituency. K V Thomas MLA, Minister K Babu, Hibi Eden MLA and Dominic Presentation MLA also attended the function.