Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) chancellor G. Viswanathan urged the government to take steps to provide education to all needy students in villages across India.

Delivering the presidential address at a meeting organised for students admitted under VIT’s “Support the Advancement of Rural Students (STARS) programme”, Mr. Viswanathan said there were more villages in India and the government should take steps to provide education to all needy students in villages, thereby transforming their lives for a better future.

Pointing out that 14 crore people in India belonged to the age group of 18-23 years, Mr. Viswanathan said of the 14 crore people, just 3.5 crore get higher education.

A helping hand

He said 628 students had benefitted through the STARS programme ever since its beginning and that 75% of them were first-generation graduates.

Director of School Education S. Kannappan, who was the chief guest, in his keynote address, said students should not be afraid of speaking in English. “Students should start with simple sentences in English and then move to complex ones. This way, students can master the language,” he said.

Mr. Kannappan pointed out that the State government had set up hi-tech labs in 6,027 government high and higher secondary schools in Tamil Nadu to enhance skills of the students.

Assistant general manager (HR), TCS, Chennai, Sriram Joshi, in his special address, said: “If you provide food to someone, they are satisfied only for a moment, but if you provide knowledge, they get lifelong satisfaction.”

Vellore district chief education officer (CEO) S. Mars; VIT registrar K. Sathiyanarayanan; VIT director of placements and training Samuel Rajkumar; and coordinator of STARS programme S. Meenakshi spoke.