Good Times Ahead - Chennai Corporation School children can be proud of their school, like anyother private school children.

With interesting initiatives lined up, students going to schools run by the Chennai Corporation can look forward to the new academic year. A group of students at a school in Perambur recently.

As soon as I glanced at this photo in 'The Hindu', I felt so happy.  No one can say that these children are not from some private school.  Their uniforms are so neat and the GIRLS look so happy! The School building at the background looks like a private school building.  

The article says:

This June will mark the beginning of an exciting academic year for schools run by the Chennai Corporation, if the initiatives being planned are any indication.

To start with, the Corporation Boys Higher Secondary School in your neighbourhood will be rechristened Chennai Boys Higher Secondary School. All the school buildings will also be painted in a uniform colour.

“We want students to identify with their school and feel proud about their institution,” said Corporation Commissioner Rajesh Lakhoni.

The Corporation is also in the process of procuring books for its school libraries. “We want to set aside half-an-hour a day as exclusive reading time for students, about thrice a week. We are buying children's literature, comics and other informative books to promote the habit of reading among children,” he said. During summer vacation, one room in every school would be readied as library.

A mathematics laboratory for students of classes X and XII is being set up in collaboration with a non-governmental organisation working in the area of mathematics and science learning.

“These schools of excellence will be modelled on Kendriya Vidyalayas, where the emphasis will be on quality,” Mr. Lakhoni added.

The Chennai Corporation website says:

Teaching through Computers

Chennai Corporation it self has provided more than 500 computers to various schools. Few of the schools posses L.C.D. Projector. Intel Asia has initiated a project called "SMART SCHOOLS" in 15 corporation schools aimed at Computer aided teaching and learning.

One more article in 'The Hindu' says:

English medium sections will be started at all primary schools run by the Chennai Corporation.

Corporation school students would be provided school bags and a uniform set each free of cost. Shoes would be distributed to corporation primary school students.

New courses on mobile servicing, web technology, advertising assistant training and bed-side patient assistant training would be started in Corporation Community Colleges.

The civic body would launch ‘Olichuvadu,’ a magazine for school students to provide guidance on education, career and employment.

For the past 5-10 years, I have noticed that more and more people who cannot afford to send their children to private schools too, try their best to admit them there because they think that unless their children know to read, write and communicate in English fluently, they cannot get good jobs.  So they work hard or even borrow money, to send them to private schools.  My servant maid, Nitya's children go to an English Medium private school!  Just like us,  her husband (a small time carpenter),  drops them at school while going for work in the morning. She works in 3 houses.  At 3.30 pm, she goes to the school, picks them up, feed them with some tiffin and drops them at the tuition class.  Brings them back home at 5.30 pm.  It is not very easy for the children to study in English medium with no one to help them at home, though Nitya has passed 10th in Tamil medium.  Apart from paying heavily for the school, they have to spend for the tuition too.  

Now, the Corporation of Chennai's plan of starting English Medium schools, with full fledged modern facilities, will help Nitya and her husband to fulfil their dreams.  I have already told her about this and her husband has started enquiring about it.  

Education, esp. education for girl children, will change the whole atmosphere of our society. One more step ahead for our country, to come out of the brand as 'the third world' country.

Let us dream that people like Mayavati too follow these steps to change the atmosphere of her state, instead of spending money on building  monoliths of herself, everywhere in her state. Like we remember Kamaraj (ex-CM of Tamilnadu) for starting elementary schools throughout Tamilnadu, when he was the CM of our State, her people might remember her for this good deed...

Post edited on 4.7.14: New article on education in corporation schools.