The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Language no damper to the spirit of participation

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jan 07, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Language no damper to the spirit of participation

Staff Reporter

Tamil medium students take part in Henkel's `Eco-petition' contest

WINNING SPIRIT: A. Sakthivel, a class XI student of Nesapakkam Corporation School, receives a prize from A. Satish Kumar, managing director, Henkel India, for his Tamil essay on saving the environment. — PHOTO: K. PICHUMANI

CHENNAI: When 17 Tamil-speaking children from two Chennai corporation schools participated in a national-level essay competition on environmental awareness, they wrote in Tamil.

Their teachers, who encouraged them, told them that the spirit of participation was more important than winning. The class XI students were invited on Saturday to the company that hosted the contest.

They interacted with the students of Madras School of Economics, who had evaluated the essays.

On Saturday, the girls and boys from the Corporation Higher Secondary Schools in Saidapet and Nesapakkam visited Henkel's corporate office on Cenotaph Road that had organised the essay contest `Eco-petition.'

Eco-petition was launched as part of Henkel's endeavour to enhance sensitivity among children to environmental issues.

The company has short listed 15 entries that will be called for the finals to be held in Kolkata January-end. Three best entries will win cash prizes. A. Satish Kumar, managing director of Henkel India, said, "Henkel's commitment to ecology and environment is very high. A certain percent of the profit is spent on creating awareness among children."

The participants learnt a little more about the dilemma facing the Government over the issue of dyeing units in Tiruppur from Paul Appasamy, a professor at the Madras School of Economics. "Our teacher told us not to expect a prize as the essay was to be written in English. It was the spirit of participation, he said," said A. Sakthivel, whose paper was adjudged the best.

E. Iraivan, Economics teacher, who represented the Nesapakkam School, said children from government-run schools were usually invited to dress up public meetings. The children were excluded because they lack communication skills and did not know English.

But the company, by inviting the children, had proved that Corporation school children were as intelligent as those from private schools, Mr. Iraivan said.

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