Don’t force students to study during PT period: Min

Coimbatore: School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi on Friday instructed schools against forcing students to attend subject classes during physical training period.

“Physical training classes should not be used by subject teachers as sports help children to refresh themselves. During review meetings, the schools were instructed that students should be allowed to play during sports period,” he told reporters in Erode.

To a query on Minister for Youth Welfare and Sports Development Udhayanidhi Stalin’s aim to make Tamil Nadu into a sports capital of India, Mahesh Poyyamozhi said that the School Education Department has already been conducting sports competitions under ‘Battery Test’ scheme to identify sports talent among students. “Nearly, 208 types of sports are being conducted and it will help in reaching the achievement,” he said.

On allegations by Opposition parties on the prevalence of drugs among students, the Minister said that the aim of Chief Minister MK Stalin is to make Tamil Nadu into a drug-free state. Claiming that the state government has been doing remarkably well under the New India Literacy Programme 2022-27 implemented at Rs 9.83 crore to provide basic literacy skills to 4.80 lakh people, above 15 years of age, Mahesh Poyyamozhi said that in the last year 3.15 lakh people were educated as against the targeted 3.10 lakh people under the programme.

“It has been our target to provide literacy to five lakh people in 2022-23. This scheme aims at ensuring 100 per cent literacy in Tamil Nadu,” he said. Minister for Housing and Urban Development S Muthusamy, Collector H Krishnanunni and MLAs were present at the inauguration of a training programme for voluntary teachers.