As part of his mission to educate children of Uttar Pradesh and ensure 100 per cent enrolment in primary and upper primary schools, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, on Monday, launched the month-long School Chalo campaign at Shravasti, the district with the lowest literacy rate in the state.
Under the School Chalo campaign, priority will be given to districts with low literacy rates that include Shravasti, Bahraich, Balrampur, Budaun and Rampur.
Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath exhorted legislators, councilors, panchayat and municipal representatives as well as intellectuals to come forward to join this noble mission as it would pave the way for the development and empowerment of Uttar Pradesh in the real sense.
He also urged legislators and Education department officials to adopt a school each and work towards their transformation in terms of facilities such as well-equipped libraries, smart classes, provision of safe drinking water, toilets etc. as they did during his first tenure as chief minister following the launch of Operation Kayakalp in 2017.
Yogi said: “Since the launch of Operation Kayakalp in 2017, 1.34 lakh primary schools have undergone facelift in UP with provision of drinking water facility, furniture, construction of toilets, inclusion of smart classes and improvement in the quality of mid-day meals. Now, I want you to adopt the remaining schools for their modernisation.”
“There cannot be a more sacred mission than educating a child and with Navratri underway, there cannot be a more auspicious occasion to join this mission. Education alone can give the right direction to society and lay the foundation for a developed and empowered country. It is both our moral duty and social responsibility that we bring each child to the school, including children of migrant workers who came to the state on vacations,” Yogi said.
He urged councilors, panchayat representatives and others to conduct door to door visits in their areas to ensure that every family sent its children to schools.
He added that while the state government was providing school uniforms, shoes and schoolbags to the children, it was the parents’ duty to see to it that their children went to schools in uniforms.
Welcoming students to the schools after a gap of two years due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that in three years since 2017, 1.80 crore children had registered for basic education.
"However, education is one field that is most affected during the novel coronavirus pandemic," he said, and lauded people for staying united under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership and supporting the government’s initiatives to tackle the deadly virus all this while, because of which active cases had become negligible in UP.
“In April 2020, there was a complete lockdown, but today all activities are open. More than 30 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been given in UP while people are also getting ration twice a month under the double-engine government,” Yogi said.
He said that tablets and smartphones were being distributed to undergraduate students in order to make them tech-savvy in the technology-driven world.
Meanwhile, admission certificates were distributed to some students whereas hearing aids were given to some differently-abled students by the chief minister.
Yogi also honoured teachers and others for their contribution to Operation Kayakalp.
Yogi also talked about bringing changes in the curriculum to include lives of great people of India and including sports for the holistic development of children.
