KARUR: The man from Karur behind the Kalvi Seer concept is set to receive the National Award for Best Teacher from the President on Teachers’ Day. Selvakannan has been selected as one among 45 awardees for the Dr Radhakrishnan Award. Along with other awardees, he would be joining PM Modi for a tea party a day before receiving the award.
Selvakannan (54) was born in a farmer’s family in Molapalayam. While his parents Rakkappan and Lakshmi had dreams of seeing him as a doctor, but because of financial constraints, this was not to be. Instead, with the guidance of his guru and his school headmaster Periyasamy, Selvakannan took up teaching.
He began at government primary school, Alampalayam, in Paramathi in 1995. Selvakannan is gearing up to celebrate his silver jubilee as a teacher next year. Before becoming headmaster of K Paramathi Panchayat Union Primary School, a job he has held for the 14 years, Selvakannan was headmaster of Kunjampatti Panchayat Union Primary School from 2002-2005.
He has given the Paramathi school a new face. He upgraded the school which now offers standards even many private schools lack. He was the brain behind the Kalvi Seer concept, coming up with the idea in 2014. The idea spread like wildfire and eventually led the State government to allot funds to organise Kalvi Seer in all government schools. His hard work earned his school an ISO certificate in 2016, the first government school in Karur to receive it.
A smiling Selvakannan said, “Dropping my dream of becoming a doctor and moving on was tough, but with help of my headmaster Govindasamy, with whom I worked as an assistant in thewearly stages, I became interested in teaching. This is the school where I studied earlier and now working here as headmaster is a matter of pride for me.”