Ravindra Suresh Deshmukh
President Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has appealed to state governments and educational institutions to ensure that quality educational resources are made accessible to all children in the country.
Inaugurating the silver jubilee celebrations of the Sharanabasav-eshwar Vidya Vardak Sangh in Gulbarga on September 23, Dr Kalam said it was essential to create widespread awareness on the importance of education among all sections of the society, particularly in rural areas and among the urban poor.
The President lauded the contributions of the Sharanabasave-shwar Vidya Vardak Sangh in providing quality education in the backward regions, such as Gulbarga. He said the Sharanabasaveshwar Sangh should take the initiative to reserve at least 10 per cent of the seats in the schools run by it for providing free education to children from the underprivileged section of the society. Dr Kalam said the aim of education should be to build character, instil human values, enhance the learning capacity through technology, and make people confident to face the future. He suggested the introduction of a one-hour class each week for narrating the story of the lives of great men and women. He regretted that engineering colleges had become mere commercial ventures.
He, appreciated the Sangh for starting a library movement in 1918. He said the problem of school dropouts needed to be given attention too. President Kalam also spoke to the school children and advised them to lead an honest life free from corruption and asked them to adopt certain policies in their work life. He interacted with children answering their questions on various topics, from corruption and unemployment to India´s bad performacne in sports. The Karnataka Governor, T.N. Chaturvedi, also praised the Sangh for setting up schools in rural areas. The chairman of the Sangh, Dr Sharanabasavappa Appa, welcomed the audience.
