COIMBATORE: A total of 32 students from the government high school at Pethanaickanur in Coimbatore were surprised on campus on Monday morning when they saw a flex board displaying their photographs, appreciating them for attending school without taking leave during the first term.
The flex board, put up by the headmaster-in-charge N Balamurugan, displayed photographs of three students from Class 6, six from Class 7, eight from Class 8, four from Class 9 and 11 from Class 10. Students were honoured in front of their peers during the morning assembly, and were given gifts including a children's novel, an appreciation certificate and pen.
Balamurugan, Tamil teacher, told TNIE that the idea of appreciating students who maintained full attendance was conceived during the quarterly examination break. He said the aim is to encourage students to attend school regularly without taking leave and to avoid unnecessary absent days.
"For this, I collected the attendance details of students who attended school from June 4 to September 25 — covering 79 working days in the first term — without taking leave. Of the 270 students from classes 6 to 10 at the school located near Pollachi, 32 students attended school without taking even a single day's leave. So, I decided to appreciate them with a surprise, so that they become an inspiration to other students," he said. He hoped that this move would inspire students to think about the importance of attending school regularly.
A Class 10 student, R Tamil Arasi, told TNIE that it was an unexpected surprise for her to see the banner in the morning, featuring her photograph along with wishes and appreciation for attending school regularly.
She said, "We were not informed that students who attended school without taking leave would be appreciated. This sudden surprise made me, as well as the other students, extremely happy."
She said that last year, Balamurugan had told students that those who were struggling with their studies could improve academically by attending school regularly without taking leave. "Keeping this in mind, I have been attending school regularly since the third term of Class 9," she said.
