“Education is not just teaching and learning lessons. It has to be concerned about building human values along with knowledge. I am delighted to be here in the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences, Bhubaneswar, and interact with the students of residential tribal schools. I greet all the members who have contributed in establishing and growing this tribal school for providing quality education to the children of twenty-eight different tribes of Orissa. During the last twelve years, this school has grown from strength of fifty students to three thousand students. I am happy that the children from this school are excelling in every field and the school has achieved 100 per cent results in the State Board Examination. I congratulate Dr. Samanta, teachers and support staff for shaping the young minds,? said President of India Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. He was addressing the 3000 tribal children of Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), a sister concern of KIIT, Deemed University, during his recent two-day visit to Orissa.
Talking about how to make impossible possible, Dr. Kalam said human flight is nothing but creativity of human mind and it undergoes several struggles to achieve excellence. ?In 1895, a great well-known scientist Lord Kelvin, who was the President of Royal Society of London said, ?any thing heavier than air cannot fly, and cannot be flown.? Within a decade, Wright Brothers proved man could fly of course at heavy risk and cost,? he said.
Speaking about how to propagate the probing of scientific minds, Dr. Kalam asked: Why is the sea blue? Stating that the view has been expressed that the dark blue of the deep sea has nothing to do with the colour of water, but it is simply the blue of the sky seen by reflection, he said: ?Sir C.V. Raman then questions this view describing his own experiment on board the ship: Observations made in this way in the deeper waters of Mediterranean and Red Sea showed that the colour so far, from being impoverished by suppression of sky reflection was wonderfully improved here. It was abundantly clear from the observation that the blue colour of the deep sea is a distinct phenomenon itself and not merely an effect due to reflected sky-light. Later Raman draws attention to the connection between the colour of deep waters and the Einstein Smoluchowski formula. Naturally, he starts with that the sky is blue because of scattering of light by the molecules in the upper atmosphere. The colour of the sea is a different matter. Rayleigh believes it was all due to reflection, but Raman gives an entirely different view, that in this phenomenon, as in the parallel case of the colour of sky, molecular diffraction determines the observed luminosity and in great measure also its colour. Hence, the birth of the Raman Effect.?
Dr. Kalam also interacted with school children of KISS, which was a sequel to his visit to KIIT, Deemed University last year. On that occasion he was impressed with KIIT'sinitiative in establishing and promoting this exclusive school for tribal children.
In reply to a question by a student, he stressed that physical, communication and knowledge connectivity are crucial for improving access of tribals to education and development. Dr. Kalam, also a scientist and teacher par excellence, gave them his mantra for extraordinary achievement in life. He urged the children of KISS to take lead in spreading the message of peace and non-violence in present-day strife-torn world. The President also had a brief discussion with the teachers of KISS.
KISS not only provides free living and education to tribals, but also imparts vocational training and teaches them the important values of life in order to help them join the national mainstream, said Dr. A. Samanta, Founder Secretary of KISS and KIIT, in his welcome address. It draws inspiration from the late Biju Patnaik'sdream of having an institute for tribals with facilities for teaching from KG to PG Level, he informed.
Established in 1993 as a Residential Primary School for tribal children with a mere strength of 125, the school presently provides free living and education from primary to higher secondary level for 3000 tribal children of poor families belonging to 28 tribes from 26 districts of Orissa. In recent years, students of this school have shown commendable performance both in academics and extra-curricular activities.
Governor of Orissa, Shri Rameshwar Thakur, Chief Minister of Orissa, Shri Naveen Patnaik, Minister of Industries, Law and R.D., Orissa, Shri B. B. Harichandan and Member of Parliament, Bhubaneswar and Dr. Prasanna Patasani were present on the occasion. (FOC)
