Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu launched the Central government’s Vidyanjali scheme at ASR Zilla Parishad High School at Atkur here on Thursday.
Mr. Naidu said the youth of A.P. excelled in competitive examinations and if they were to continue to make their mark, the standards of education should be maintained.
The concept of Vidyanjali scheme, which is to facilitate teaching in schools by persons who are not teachers, would bridge the resource gap which badly affected the education sector.
“While the States did their best for promoting education from school to collegiate level, the Central government should extend its support in terms of funds and logistics to the maximum extent possible,” he added.
Union Minister for Urban Development and Parliamentary Affairs M. Venkaiah Naidu said: “An estimated 40 per cent of the population could not read and write, which is a serious drawback for a country that is aspiring to become a global power.”
Turns a teacher
On the occasion, the Chief Minister donned the role of a teacher. He took the opportunity to teach morals and touched on other subjects in about an hour-long interaction with 9th class students.
Reading out a story from Panchatantra that sums up the consequences of greed, Mr. Chandrababu Naidu exhorted the children to be selfless and serve the society to the extent possible while pursuing their goal.
He wanted the youngsters to be good readers and invoke the lessons learnt by them in their lives to become virtuous citizens of the future.
“You can dream of various things but you should not stop there. You have to work hard to achieve the goals,” he counselled the children.
The Chief Minister told the children that they should stand for values, without which any amount of learning would go down the drain.
“You can tie a dog with a gold chain but it cannot become a lion,” he observed, while preaching that children should learn not to be overwhelmed by wealth or bogged down by hurdles in life.
The students promised the Chief Minister that they would abide by what he and their teachers taught them both in classrooms and outside.
Mr. Naidu stressed the need to read newspapers and good literature to imbibe values.
The children gave a loud round of applause when they were told by the Chief Minister that his joint secretary A.V. Rajamouli hailed from Atkur village.
Winding up what turned out to be a free-wheeling discussion during which the children posed various questions, the Chief Minister asked whether he was a good teacher.
All the children raised their hands acknowledging that they had an able teacher and leader in Mr. Naidu.
