Again this May, 67-year-old T.V. Meenakshisundaram will launch a drive to increase enrolment of students in government schools. Last year, he launched this drive for the first time, knocking on the doors of people from underprivileged sections of society and requesting them to send their children to government schools. This mission has three objectives: Increasing enrolment as well as improving standards at government schools. By achieving these two goals, the third one will be achieved: Ensuring children from underprivileged families have access to good education, and their parents don’t have to bear the burden of providing them with quality education.
“Many parents borrow loans from moneylenders at exorbitant interest rates to send them to private schools. And then, unable to repay the loans, they pull their children out of these schools and place them in government schools. All of this means just one thing: Their hard-earned money has gone down the drain. So, my campaign is aimed at encouraging those from underprivileged sections of society to admit their children in government schools,” says Meenakshisundaram, a retired official of Indian Bank who lives in Nanganallur. He agrees that unlike most private institutions, government schools lack certain facilities and that improving the quality of education offered by the latter is central to his campaign. He says this can be achieved with the help of volunteers. Meenakshisundaram runs a not-for-profit organisation called Edupassion, under whose banner, he has adopted five government schools. These schools are located at Pazhavanthangal, Ullagaram, Bhakthavathsalam Nagar, Nanganallur and Vanuvampet. “We have been working with these schools since July 2018. We focus on students of Classes IV and V who have low grades. We teach them the basics of reading, writing and how to converse effectively in Tamil and English. Once the children acquire language skills, comprehension of science and mathematics becomes easier. In addition, we train them in martial arts — Silambam and Kung Fu — and also in vocal and instrumental music. We also offer storytelling sessions that are geared towards instilling moral values in children,” says Meenakshisundaram, who believes that good education makes a nation prosperous. For his May campaign, Meenakshisundaram seeks volunteers who can teach children the basics of English, Tamil, science and mathematics. People can support the initiaitve by donating books.
Meenakshisundaram can be reached at 89399 58123 / 80561 49008.