Emphasis on education can empower economy: VIT Chancellor

Handing over awards and certificates to 68 government and government aided schools which secured 100% results in the recent government board examinations, he said, in terms of education, Tamil Nadu ranked third nationally after Himachal Pradesh and Kerala. However, noting that a nation with an emphasis on education could also empower its economy, he said that TN still has a lot to learn from the international leaders in the education system.

G Viswanathan also demanded central government to spend more money on the school education system. He said that though various commissions set up by the government has earlier recommended the government to allocate more than 6% for education in the annual budget, in the last seventy years, the allotment has not even crossed 4%. The budget allocation for education this year was only around 3.3%, he averred.

He also called on officials to admit their wards in government schools and said that only such move would improve the quality of the state-run schools.

Following this, Collector SA Raman said that a joint effort by teachers, parents and students was required to lift the district from its low ranking in the Class 10,11 and 12 examination results.

In the event, the Chancellor also handed over tables and chairs to 8 schools. Earlier VIT Pro VC S Narayanan welcomed the gathering, while CEO S Mars and VIT Vice President Sekhar Viswanathan participated in the event.