THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: New friends, unseen buildings, and glittery decorations- wonders never seemed to cease for the tiny tots who gathered at the Government Model HSS, Pattom. Boys and girls donning paper crowns — most of them in uniforms — were seen largely happy to enter school. However, some of them who missed their mothers shed tears — an unavoidable sight on every June 1. A total of 3.14 lakh new students joined schools across the state on Monday.
Formally inaugurating the Pravesanolsavam, Chief Minister V D Satheesan said the government now aims to make the state a global education destination. “Children should study their desired course in the world’s best institutions, while our mission will be to bring such centres of excellence to Kerala. I give my word that such institutions that attract even foreign students will take form here,” he said.
Asking the students to always keep their curiosity growing, Satheesan urged them to take strong decisions against drugs. “Dear children, you are our dreams, and you should discourage your friends from using such substances,” he said. The chief minister also released the 2026-27 academic calendar in the ceremony.
General Education Minister N Samsudheen said children’s evolved attitude of freely approaching the chief minister for a selfie before the event is a positive trend of more students overcoming stage fear.
“Today, the world is a global village, and our children are competing against students across the world. Hence, we need new age schools, equipped with modern technology, with timely changes,” he said in his presidential address.
Samsudheen also said the department was able to distribute textbooks to all schools and uniforms to a great extent within the two weeks of the new government.
Expressing happiness at returning to the school as an MLA after eight years, Health Minister K Muraleedharan urged parents to extend more cooperation to fight drug abuse among children. Students also took the cyber security pledge as part of the event.