BHUBANESWAR: On the occasion of Children’s Day on Tuesday, Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik made a slew of announcements for improvement of school education in the state.
In his maiden address to around 6.6 lakh school children from nearly 62,000 schools, Naveen launched ‘Mo School’ campaign to connect children to their schools and childhood memories. The initiative, he said, will promote and facilitate volunteerism to give back to alma maters.
Appealing celebrities and distinguished personalities to mentor their respective schools and contribute funds for developing educational institutions, the CM said the state government will contribute double the amount for which a corpus fund of Rs 100 crore has been constituted.
“Many want to donate something to provide scholarships, put up laboratory, library, promote sports and volunteer time to teach students in schools. The new initiative will make children active participants in the development journey of their alma mater and be part of the change they want in their schools,” he said.
In his 15-minute ‘Mana ra Katha’, his own version of ‘Mann ki Baat’, Naveen said he wants children of the state to dream big, develop scientific temperament, work hard to achieve goals and excel in various fields.
The CM also announced cash awards and scholarships to encourage best performing schools and students.
Ten students from each block will get Odia language scholarship for scoring highest marks in Odia while 40,000 meritorious students will get Chief Minister Scholarship and receive a cash award of Rs 5,000 each for excelling in Class X board examination, he declared.
Since the contribution of parents and teachers for the success of children is unequivocal, the state government has also decided to felicitate the parents and teachers of highest scoring Class X students. Best three schools in every block will also get a cash award of Rs 1 lakh each and it will be distributed among teachers, Naveen announced.
While Odisha has reached a certain level in most indicators, the CM said, education will take the state to the next level of development. “The greatest transformation in any civilisation has come with education. The progress of nations has shown that nurturing children and empowering them through education has played a crucial role in taking them to next level,” he said.
The chief minister turned nostalgic while advising students to focus on their goals and bring laurels to their motherland. “Though there is a saying that children constitute one-third of our population, but they all are future of the nation,” he said.
“A student has three important duties to exercise. You have to excel in the study to fulfill dreams, take care of parents and contribute to your motherland. It gives immense pleasure to be instrumental in the growth of own state and country,” the CM added.