The new syllabus put in place by State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) for classes I through XII has tried to educate children about many local achievers. After ‘Padman’ Arunachalam Muruganantham and Paralympic star Mariyappan Thangavelu, it is Erode boy M Yasin who has made it to the pages of the textbooks.

From this year, students of class II will read about the boy and his honesty as part of the Tamil lessons. Yasin is the son of casual labourers Batcha and Afrose Beham. It was an incident that took place in his school last year that has earned him a place in the new syllabus.

A class II student at a government school at Chinnasemur, he had been playing with fellow students during the interval when he came upon an abandoned bag. He promptly handed it over to his class teacher, who found that it contained Rs 50,000 cash. The teacher not only appreciated Yasin for his honesty but also informed Superintendent of Police Sakthiganesan about the boy’s work.

Word of the boy’s honesty soon reached the media and appreciation came pouring in from several sources. Adding to the praise, actor Rajinikanth invited Yasin to his house and said his piece.

Now a class III student, the boy has the distinction of being part of the syllabus for his peers in the lesson titled ‘Aathisoodi-nerpada ozhugu’. The lesson narrates the incident and is complemented with illustrations. A picture of Yasin with Sakhiganesan has been included too.