In addition to teaching and guiding the students, teachers should play a pivotal role in inculcating the habit of reading among student community, said K.S. Palanisamy, District Collector of Tirupur, on Monday.
Launching the Read and Rise initiative of The Hindu, with the support of Poppys Knitwear and SNQS International, to distribute books to 158 Government schools in Tirupur district, he said reading was a great form of meditation that helped to focus better and enrich the mind.
In today’s technological world, a sea of information is available online. But, the much needed soft skills and social skills can be developed only if one keeps himself updated by reading, Mr. Palanisamy said.
Books are the best weapon to change the society’s outlook positively. The brain recognises whatever we hear, read and our vocabulary strengthens depending on this exposure.
Reading helps improve long term memory skills, Collector added.
A.Sakthivel, chairman of Poppys Group,urged every one, including the teachers and parents, to go out of the way to make students read beyond their syllabi.
This initiative of reaching out to 158 government schools should spread to all 1,000 elementary schools in the district, he said.
The District Collector promised to take up this Read and Rise initiative through Public-Private partnership mode and establish libraries in all Government schools.
He said that the upcoming Tirupur Book Fair would provide immense opportunity to scale up the reading culture among the students and public.
V. Elangovan, chairman, SNQS International, promised to sustain this initiative.
S. Shanthi, Chief Eduction Officer, Tirupur, informed that efforts would be initiated to develop the library facilities in the schools.
Poppys Knitwear and SNQS International sponsored the initiative by donating books worth over ₹9 lakh to 158 Government schools in the district.
Organisations interested to support this initiative can contact Vijay Sugumar at 90038-77778 for details.