DMK govt ordered Rs 1,200 cr under RTE to schools: Udhayanidhi Stalin

Chennai: Sports and Youth Welfare Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin on Sunday said the 'Dravidian model' government is providing great importance to education and ordered release of Rs 1,200 crore to schools under the Right to Education Act.

In his address at a school education department function, Udhayanidhi Stalin said Tamil Nadu is the leading state in implementing the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, which provides 25 per cent reservation for poor in schools.

"Though the government has to pay private schools the fee of students admitted under the RTE, this amount was delayed to them during the tenure of previous (AIADMK) regime."

"However, after the Dravidian model government (DMK) took over (in 2021), Government Order was issued for release of about Rs 1,200 crore to schools and work in this regard is ongoing."

Chief Minister M K Stalin has ordered release of fee to schools under the RTE in the same year, Udhayanidhi said and added that the government supported the private schools as well. "A request once again to teachers," the Minister said and appealed to them to not use periods specifically earmarked for sports-physical education to teach Math and Science for students.

"Games and physical exercises are equally important as education. A child, good at games would have good health and shall do well in studies" he said and referred to Tamil Nadu finishing second at the Khelo India Youth Games (sixth edition) held in the state early this year.

The Dravidian movement had all along given great importance to education and reformist leader Periyar EV Ramasamy (1879-1973) was excited to see girl children going to school, he said, adding everyone belonging to the Dravidian movement experience similar joy when seeing children getting educated.

Outlining the initiatives of Chief Minister Stalin and late CM M Karunanidhi, he said all students completing school education should go to higher education, pursue professional courses and scale great heights and this is Stalin's goal.

The government is taking special steps to encourage both studies and sports, he said and cited the Kalaignar Centenary Library at Madurai (also coming up in Coimbatore and Tiruchirappalli) and the TN Champions Foundation initiative which has so far, this year "alone provided Rs 10 crore incentives to support sports/sportspersons".

Later, the Sports Minister inaugurated the 'CM Trophy Games 2024,' online registration (https:dat.tn.gov.in).

Udhayanidhi, who also holds the Special Programme Implementation portfolio flagged off and launched the services of 100 new and refurbished buses (at a cost of Rs 66.15 crore) under a state-run transport corporaton here. He also travelled in a bus as part of an inspection to assess the quality.

The school education department function was held at the Nehru Stadium here. It was to felicitate students and schools for the academic year 2023-24.

Students felicitated were those who won medals in sporting events at international, national and state levels. Schools in private sector that showed 100 per cent pass rate in Class 10 and 12 public examinations were given commendation certificates.