The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Make classrooms creative, says Kalam

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 23, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Make classrooms creative, says Kalam

Staff Reporter

He inaugurates 55 classrooms built by Madras Cosmopolitan Round Table in five schools

Photo: R.RAGU

EAGER LISTENERS: Students listen to the former President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, in rapt attention in Chennai on Monday. —

CHENNAI: When the former President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, shared his idea of a creative classroom where teachers would act as dynamic facilitators of active learning, it sounded like a dream.

He was speaking at a function organised by the Madras Cosmopolitan Round Table (MCRT) ’94 here on Monday, after inaugurating 55 classrooms built by the organisation in five schools. The inauguration was marked by the former President launching a commemorative plaque.

Commending the organisers for the effort, he said he was delighted to see individuals who rose above personal concerns to engage in service to the society. He urged them to consider going further beyond and make classrooms very creative.

“Students’ creative works such as poems, paintings and drawings can be displayed in the classroom,” Dr. Kalam said. Recalling his teacher Siva Subramania Iyer, he said: “He gave us a dream and a mission…this race of teachers should multiply.”

Urging students to take up the mission of making India a developed nation, he said he visualised a nation where the rural-urban divide was bridged, where there was equitable distribution, where agriculture, industry and the service sector worked together, where education was offered with value education, where best healthcare was available and where a corruption-free government functioned and where peace prevailed.

Chairman of MCRT ’94 Neville J. Bilimoria said the project of building 55 classrooms, carried out in association with Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and HSBC, with the support of Lancor Holdings, followed the construction of 46 classrooms over the last five years. It was executed as part of Round Table India’s ‘Freedom Through Education’ project.

President of Round Table India Pranay Trivedi and chairman of Round Table Area II Sakthivel Raja respectively presented the ‘Golden Louis Marchesi Fellowship’ and the ‘Friend of Round Table’ scroll to Dr. Kalam.

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

Tamil Nadu