Dreams of flying to foreign countries have collapsed for around 50 winners of the state-level Kalaiaruvi competition conducted by the school education department in 2018 under the education tour.
S Loganathan, alumni of Kinathukadavu government higher secondary school in Coimbatore, told The New Indian Express, "I won first place in the state-level sand sculpture competition and was selected for the education tour in 2019. So, I was excited and happy to go on a foreign tour. My parents were also happy.I cannot go on foreign tours as my family is poor. For the tour, I got a passport and visa. One week before going on the tour, the educational officer who was in charge of tour arrangements casually said that the tour plan was cancelled, and he did not mention any reason for cancelling the tour. So, we were totally disappointed." He added that winners are in the WhatsApp group named 'TN Study Tour' even now with the hope that the school education department will take them on the tour one day.
Alumni of the Chettipalayam government higher secondary school, T Rubanraj, who won first place in the puppet competition told TNIE, "Officer said that students will be taken to a 10-day tour of three countries — Canada, Malaysia, and Singapore — to learn the foreign education, culture and technology."
Money allocated, but no tour
"Many students who belong to the economically weaker sections were disappointed and our tour dreams collapsed following the cancellation of the tour. Despite Rs 3 crore being allocated by the school education department for the tour, officers did not take us on the tour inside the country. As per assurance and to fulfil our tour dreams, the School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi should take steps to take our batch on the education tour. Because recently, officers have taken the school students on a foreign education tour last year, except for our batch," he said.
When asked about it, an officer from the school education department in Chennai told TNIE, "We had planned to take them on tour in June 2019. However, some students failed to receive their passports. After students received their passports, top officers failed to take them on the tour due to their lethargy. Then COVID-19 cases started to rise globally in December 2019. Then the tour stopped and after that, higher officers did not take any steps."
According to the sources, in 2018, the state government announced that students who will win the Kalaiaruvi competition would be taken on foreign education tours to motivate them and 50 students were selected for the same in 2019. Repeated attempts to reach the school education commissioner K Nandakumar went in vain.
