VIRUDHUNAGAR: The district, long recognised for the excellence of its students in board examinations, is actively making efforts to spot and nurture their artistic skills, with initiatives aimed at bridging the opportunity gap between the children from rural, low-income households and their urban counterparts.
Thaen Kural Thervu, one such initiative, through which the district administration selected 20 students from government and government-aided schools and has been offering them training in singing since January.
The students were offered in-person training during weekdays and online guidance sessions from the team members of composer James Vasanthan. Of them, six students have recently performed in a Tamil song in a film the composer has been working on.
A Asha (16), a student who performed in the song, told TNIE, "It feels surreal. The training I received from James Vasanthan sir's team truly helped improve my skills and learn singing professionally." Asha is a Class 11 student at the Government Higher Secondary School in Virudhunagar.
Passionate about singing right from a young age, Asha said, "I used to practice by recording my singing on my father's keypad mobile phone," and added that she aspired to become a playback singer.
A Ashwini, Asha's 14-year-old sister, also performed in the song. Their father -- P Anand Raj (37), a daily-wage labourer -- expressed his gratitude to the collector and the teachers for assisting his daughters pursue a passion, which is largely uncommon in his social circle.
"My daughters have been interested in music since their childhood. However, we were unaware, as we do not have a background in music. It was when she started winning in competitions, I was determined not to hinder her progress. Her teacher even gave her a smartphone to aid her singing practice," he said.
Collector V P Jeyaseelan said irrespective of the field, if students show interest and possess foundational skills, right coaching delivered through effective methods can yield significant results. "Thanks to contemporary online tech, we are able to leverage these tools to train students efficiently, thereby bridging existing gaps," he said.
An official from the school education department said the Thaen Kural Thervu initiative is focused on providing sustained training and would continue to do so.
Similarly, over the last two years, around 200 students from government and government-aided schools have been chosen and offered training from expert artists to develop their skills in various forms of drawing, including Warli painting, fabric painting, and oil painting. The collector said the district administration has plans to introduce training for Bharathanatyam in the future.