Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

Workshop encourages students to aim high

Anasuya Menon

COIMBATORE: "Who is the one person who has endeared himself to the population of Tamil Nadu? He is loved and respected by the people of the State and has risen to an iconic stature." The auditorium of the Kongu Vellalar Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Karumathampatty, fell silent. Whispers spread until one student hesitantly raised his hand and said, "Rajnikant." The crowd cheered and clapped and he won a toffee as prize for the right answer.

This was at a personality development workshop organised for the students of Classes X and XII. Resource person, Lazer Selva, Senior Lecturer, Department of English, Loyola College, Chennai, moved on to the next question to which the answer was instantaneous. "Who is the person who is a role model for the entire nation?" "A.P.J. Abdul Kalam," the gathering answered in unison.

What was common between the President and the film star?

The third question arose and one by one the students shouted, "both hailed from humble backgrounds." They have both suffered a lot in life before achieving greatness. Achievements one made in life did not depend on money or luck, it depended on aiming high, he added.

The students took active part in the programme, clapping their hands and enjoying every bit of the session made lively through songs.

"Education is a celebration," Mr. Lazer said and the students repeated it.

The interactive session was aimed at making children aware of the need to be self-confident, fearless in expressing their ideas and be committed to achieve greatness in life S. Selvam, of Centre for University and Industry collaboration, Anna University and the Director for the Development of Tamil in Engineering, said that the training the students received at school was very important.

Principal C. Natarajan said the school would organise such workshops regularly.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Tension over girl's death
Workshop encourages students to aim high
Mills' body plea to Andhra Pradesh Government
Roshni to join hands with Sharanalayam
E-learning training from today
Recruitment drive conducted at TNAU
Around the City
Reader's Mail

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu