Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu MK Stalin marked the completion of one year in office by announcing a few new schemes, some of which were education-centric.
The first one was about offering a nutritious breakfast for students of Classes I to V in government schools. The operators of the scheme would be local bodies. Initially, this would commence in a few municipal corporations and remote villages. It will be extended to all the parts of Tamil Nadu in a phased manner.
The Chief Minister informed that they received information that students were missing out on breakfast because they need to head out to school early morning. In some cases, they also missed out because of their family conditions. This is why it was decided that breakfast will be offered.
MK Stalin proceeded to quote a survey which mentioned how most children below the age of six have nutritional deficiency and some of them are even underweight. Hence, medical assistance and nutrients will be provided to children so that these deficiencies can be addressed. Medical tests will be done periodically for children in the age group to address these issues, the Chief Minister told the Assembly.
Also, the third scheme is regarding upgrading schools. As many as 25 higher secondary schools will be upgraded to schools of excellence at a cost of Rs 150 crore. This is in line with Delhi's model government schools.
Starting 708 urban hospitals in 21 municipal corporations and 63 municipalities and extending CM in Your Constituency scheme to all 234 constituencies were the other schemes which were announced.
Teachers and academicians welcomed the announcements. “Most students come to school without having breakfast. They walk long distances in the scorching sun and by the time they sit in class they are exhausted,” said K Priya, a government school teacher in T Nagar.
Education rights activist RK Babu agreed with them and said that the scheme will ensure that students attend school. While school education department officials said they would work with the social welfare department to implement the pilot project expeditiously.
