
Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to unveil statues of leaders in Pollachi today
He will subsequently view a photographic exhibition and a model of the Parambikulam-Aliyar project. Following this, he will return to Coimbatore by 1.15 p.m. and depart for Chennai by flight.

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The Hindu
14 hours ago
- The Hindu
Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to unveil statues of leaders in Pollachi today
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, who arrived in Coimbatore on Sunday evening, is scheduled to unveil statues of prominent leaders and attend key events during his visit to Udumalpet and Pollachi on Monday. At 9.15 a.m., he will distribute benefits under various government welfare schemes at Nethaji Grounds in Udumalpet. At noon in Pollachi, he will unveil statues of Kamaraj, V.K. Palanisamy Gounder, C. Subramaniam, and N. Mahalingam. He will also inaugurate a memorial dedicated to workers who lost their lives during the construction of the Parambikulam-Aliyar Dam in Pollachi and the V.K. Palaniswamy Auditorium. He will subsequently view a photographic exhibition and a model of the Parambikulam-Aliyar project. Following this, he will return to Coimbatore by 1.15 p.m. and depart for Chennai by flight.


The Hindu
14 hours ago
- The Hindu
Education should not be sold or restricted to some, says Stalin
Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Sunday said, 'Education should not be sold as a commodity or restricted to only a few, but should be made available even to the poor and downtrodden. Education is their weapon.' He was speaking an event held on the Tamil Nadu Open University campus at Saidapet here in honour of former Manonmaniam Sundaranar University Vice-Chancellor V. Vasanthi Devi, who died recently. In his virtual speech, he said the actions of his government were indeed tributes to her. 'Dr. Vasanthi Devi undertook several initiatives for the education of the poor,' he said. Mr. Stalin recalled the contributions of the former V-C in taking education to the underprivileged. Her actions served several institutions and she insisted on reforms and equality in education, he said. 'Even after her retirement, she worked for education and human rights.' 'We have released the State Education Policy so that the thoughts of academic experts are made actionable,' he added. Speaking at the event, CPI(M) leader K. Balakrishnan said Vasanthi Devi worked tirelessly for the people. 'In a world where education is being privatised, destroyed, and the right to education is being taken away, Vasanthi Devi worked to safeguard education till the very end,' he said. School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi also spoke virtually at the meeting. CPI(M) leader P. Shanmugam; retired High Court judge Justice D. Hariparanthaman, Chairperson of State Commission for Women A.S. Kumari, human rights defender Henri Tiphagne, founder of AhaGuru Education Technology Balaji Sampath, and economist Venkatesh Athreya were among those who participated. The event was organised by over 35 organisations including Aid India, Arappor Iyyakkam, Palli Kalvi Pathukappu Iyakkam, and Campaign Against Child Labour.


The Hindu
14 hours ago
- The Hindu
Language lessons: on Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, State Education Policy
Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are planning to implement a two-language formula for school education, as opposed to the push for a three-language policy in the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. Both States are inclined towards primacy for local languages, Tamil and Kannada, respectively, and then English in school education. Tamil Nadu has already unveiled its State Education Policy (SEP) while a commission has submitted its recommendations for Karnataka's SEP. Tamil Nadu has merely reiterated its existing two-language policy, but Karnataka is set to discontinue its three-language policy. The commission has proposed that Kannada or the child's mother tongue should be the medium of instruction up to Class 5, and preferably till Class 12. Kannada or whatever is the mother tongue and English will be the two compulsory languages. If implemented, this will replace the model that includes Hindi as a third compulsory language. Other recommendations include moving away from NCERT textbooks and developing a Karnataka-specific curriculum and bilingual teaching methods. The Tamil Nadu SEP, which was announced by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin recently, makes Tamil compulsory up to Class 10 across all boards. The NEP proposes a third language which should be Hindi or another Indian language, seen as an attempt to impose Hindi. The Tamil Nadu SEP also commits to promote critical thinking, digital literacy, climate education, and social justice. Apart from a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) approach, the State also wants to offer special support for tribal students, first-generation learners, and students with disabilities. The government has pledged more support for public education. In fact, uniform high quality public education should be the biggest priority of school education policy for all States and the Centre. The Centre's ill-advised focus on language turns unproductive and controversial even though it does not insist on promoting Hindi on paper. The three-language policy is also in disregard for the demand for English language learning, and as a medium of instruction across States, including in the Hindi-speaking regions, and Gujarat and Maharashtra. Education policies have been a major driver of the development outcomes in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, and any attempt to forcibly alter them by central policies would do no good to anyone. Tamil Nadu is fighting for the release of ₹2,152 crore in education funds from the Centre that is rightfully its. There is no harm in learning Hindi or any other language, but when perceived as a political project of domination, its promotion causes resistance. The Centre must give up its language obduracy and focus on several critical challenges in school education. It must work with State governments to tackle them.