A rendezvous with stalwarts

Students visit K.N. Panikkar, Sugathakumari as part of ‘Vidyalayam Pratibhakalilekku’

Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala 14/11/2019::: Poet Sugathakumari with children during an interaction organised by Education Minister C 
Raveendranath at the Poets residence in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday.....Photo: S. Mahinsha/The Hindu

Understanding oneself is actual education, historian K.N. Panikkar has said.

At his residence, he was interacting with students of Government Girls Higher Secondary School, Peroorkada, as part of ‘Vidyalayam Pratibhakalilekku’ launched by the General Education Department here on Thursday.

The students were accompanied by Minister for General Education C. Ravindranath.

Mr. Panikkar said the country and the State had changed much since his childhood. The challenges in front of the young generation were quite different. The study of history was not about dates; it was about the strengths of society, and students had to approach it with this awareness, he said.

The State government’s Public Education Rejuvenation Mission was a historical change. Such an intervention would help ensure good education for all, he said.

General Education Secretary A. Shajahan and Director of General Education K. Jeevan Babu, State Council Educational Research and Training (SCERT) Director J. Prasad, and Victers head Murugan Kattakada spoke.

At 12.30 p.m., students of Government Girls Higher Secondary School, Pattom, and Mr. Ravindranath visited poet Sugathakumari at her residence and honoured her. When the Minister recited a poem for the poet, the students too joined in.

Ms. Sugathakumari reminded the students that former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru taught people about freedom, peace, poverty alleviation, and secularism. She urged the Minister to take steps to encourage students to recite poems aloud in class. Besides academics, children should strive to acquire general knowledge.

Children recited poems while a group from Aranmula presented Vanchipattu.

Mr. Jeevan Babu, Public Education Rejuvenation Mission consultant Ratheesh Kaliyadan, and Principal Retnakumar were present.

The visits to houses of prominent people were held across the State. Students and their teachers visited people who had made a name for themselves in science, arts, sports, and literature and honoured them. The home visits will continue till November 28.