TIRUVANNAMALAI: They may not have been able to interact with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but a group of 14 students from Kendriya Vidyalaya in the temple town had plenty of messages to take home.
The school was one of the few across the country selected for an interaction via video conferencing with the Prime Minister on Teachers’ Day. Though the students were not able to ask the PM any questions due to time constraints, many said they were enthralled by the experience. They described the speech as inspiring and motivating.
“I wanted to ask a question on the implementation of Right to Education Act and what steps are being taken to ensure that all children are covered by it as many of them are still not enrolled in schools,” said P D Charunivetha, a Class X student of the school, adding that Modi’s emphasis on the education of girls was encouraging.
“The Prime Minister spoke at length about education of girl children. He said educating one girl would lead to the education of two families,” she added.
Charunivetha’s classmate R S Sowmiya said the Prime Minister also stressed on the importance of conserving environment and energy. “We feel lucky to have been a part of this event,” Sowmiya said, adding that it was encouraging for the students that a school located in a district was among those selected for the event. “Usually, schools in metros are the ones selected for such programmes. We are happy that our school was part of the event. The Prime Minister was patiently listening to students (from other schools),” said R Ritika Devi, another student of the Kendriya Vidyalaya. Students said Modi also shared experiences of his childhood and admitted to being mischievous at times.
Citing his recent visit to Japan, the PM told students that their Japanese counterparts helped in keeping their schools clean. “He told us to keep our school clean. He said he used to do it in his school days,” Ritika said. Sources in the school administration said students here were unable to put questions to Modi since the slotted time was over before their turn. In his remarks earlier, Modi said there was a need to develop scientific temper, discipline and good habits. He recalled his Independence Day speech in which he had said if government officials work for 12 hours, he is ready to put in 13 hours of work.
From Premier to Task Master
Talking with lakhs of school children across the country through video conferencing on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid emphasis on girls’ education, cleanliness and the need to protect environment while describing himself as a “task master”.