more-in Not many children coming from the South Asian Federation (SAF) Games Village at Koyambedu will head out to a Corporation school. But L. S. Tharunika did on Monday, her first day at school. “I did not want my child to study at a private school. I wanted her to get educated in a Chennai Corporation school. So I enrolled her in the Chennai Primary School in Puliyur, Kodambakkam, on Monday. She started attending classes. She is so happy,” says her mother R.Lalitha, who is the Deputy Commissioner (Revenue and Finance), Greater Chennai Corporation. Ms. Lalithaa, an IAS officer, proudly says she is also a product of a government school. Ms. Lalitha says the facilities in the Corporation schools are on a par with private schools, facilitating learning and other group activities of students. “Many parents do not understand how good the Corporation school is and are reluctant to send their kids to such a school. But our family was determined to get her to learn from the teachers of a Chennai Corporation school,” says Ms.Lalitha. Her husband E. Sumanth, an aviation specialist, has wholeheartedly supported her initiative. Churning achievers Chennai Corporation school teachers say they have been visiting various localities in an attempt to persuade parents to enrol their children, explaining the improvement in facilities at the corporation schools. But convincing the parents remains a challenge. The Corporation has started offering a wide range of nutritious food to its students and paying the higher education fee of all students from its schools. Another set of 28 smart classrooms will be commissioned by Samsung India shortly. Many students have been achievers — cracking the IAS exam, joining institutions of excellence and winning in tough competitions. As many as 89,000 students are studying in these schools. Pointing to the food supplied for all students free of cost at the school, Ms.Lalitha said: “I packed fruits for Tharunika today. But she opted to have food provided by her school.” When asked what she learned on her first day at school, Tharunika said: “I learned ABCD and danced a lot.”

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