Union Minister for Education and Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan delivered an address at the award ceremony of the Veer Gatha (Super 25) contest on August 13. Launched as a part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, Veer Gatha aims to inspire and spread awareness among children about the gallant deeds and sacrifices of the Armed Forces.
Speaking at the event, the Union Minister said, "To strengthen the sense of 'responsibility towards the nation' from an early age, the education ministry in consultation with the defence ministry will also work to include the valour of our soldiers and India's veer gatha in the last 75 years into the school curriculum and our textbooks." This was stated in a report by PTI.
The nationwide contest, which was launched between October 21 and November 20, 2021, inspired more than 8.04 lakh students from 4,788 schools to share inspirational stories through essays, poems, drawings and multimedia presentations.
Furthermore, after several rounds of evaluation, 25 students were selected and declared as the Super 25.
"The education ministry will soon develop an institutional mechanism for awarding academic credits for certificates received under this initiative," the Minister added.
In this context, the Minister said, "Super 25 and Veer Gatha Project has brought out young India's patriotism and respect for our heroes in the most creative ways. It is an attempt towards developing strong patriotic fervour and a sense of gratitude towards our bravehearts," he added.
Suggesting renaming the contest as Sena Super 25, the minister added, "This time Super 25 was conducted among 8 lakh students across 5,000 schools and we will work to take this initiative to all schools in India and to over 1 crore students going forward."
Meanwhile, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said, "When I was going through the entries, I realised that whether that child is from north India, south India, east India or west India, everyone is tied with the same thread of patriotism."
Commenting on children's creativity and writing skills, the defence minister said, "When I go among kids, I experience and live 'present' and 'future' at the same time. Whatever you have written about our brave soldiers, I have tried to know and understand it. I am sure that whoever sees your entries would be happily surprised that our children are so creative," he added.
