Illam Thedi Kalvi scheme reached nearly 96 L students: State

CHENNAI: The Illam Thedi Kalvi (scheme), launched to bridge the learning gap developed during the COVID-19 lockdown, has benefited 95.97 lakh students across the state, said the state government on Sunday.

The DMK government allocated Rs 660.35 crore from the academic year 2021-22 to 2024-25 for the ITK scheme, launched in October 2021. With 1.65 lakh volunteers, the scheme ensured that students were given additional care to compensate for the time lost during the pandemic-induced lockdown.

The Dravidian model government listed its achievements through various initiatives for the welfare of school students and overall school education. As part of this, under the Professor Anbazhagan School Development Scheme, infrastructure development works were done in 4,426 schools with an allocation of Rs 2,917 crore.

Additionally, 25 lakh students, mostly from primary classes, are benefiting under the Ennum Ezhuthum (Numeracy and Literacy) scheme. Also, over 8.36 lakh readers have visited and benefited from the Madurai Kalaignar Centenary Library, which houses over 3.64 lakh books.

Besides this, the School Education department has conducted health check-ups for senior teachers and tablets were given to 79,723 secondary school teachers for Rs 81 crore. The department also appointed 3,043 post-graduate teachers and 97 district education officers to fill vacancies. Interestingly, the department actively encouraged reading habits for students, for which the scheme 'Vasippu Iyakkam' was launched.

Though the scheme was launched as a pilot project in 11 districts and in 11 panchayat unions to instil a daily reading habit in children, so far, the scheme has benefited more than 66 lakh students from classes 4 to 9.

Further, to introduce efficient classrooms, 22,931 smart classrooms have been set up at a cost of Rs 455.32 crore to benefit over 16.77 lakh students studying in state-run schools.