Puducherry Chief Minister N Rangasamy on Monday called upon the teachers to keep a close vigil and monitor children under their care and help them come up in academic pursuits.
Handing over tablets (wireless personal computers with touchscreen facility) to teachers of government primary schools here, the Chief Minister said “I do not want to elaborate much when I appeal to you to exercise full vigil and monitor children under your care as you are all already aware”, in a veiled reference to the allegations made in several quarters since recently that “drug peddlers are eyeing school students in Puducherry.” He said that there is an ‘illusion’ among parents that only private schools would guarantee best academic performance of the students and added that government schools had ‘palatial campuses, good teachers, and congenial academic environment’ and there was therefore no reason why parents should hesitate in getting their children enrolled in government institutions in Puducherry.
“We are also taking care of the health and nutritional status of the children by operating a free breakfast scheme, noon meal scheme and also by distributing millets in the evenings,” he said. He said that already government high and higher secondary schools were establishing excellent records in public examinations. He said the parents should come out of the ‘illusion’ that only private schools could ensure academic excellence of the children.
Lt Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, Home and Education Minister A Namassivayam and Assembly Speaker R Selvam were among those present.
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