Category: செய்திகள்

குழந்தைகளுக்கு விருப்பமானவை பாட்டும் கதையும் ஆகும். இன்றைய விரைவு உலகத்தில் நம் குழந்தைகளுக்கு இவை கிடைப்பதில்லை. இக்குறையை உணர்ந்து, முனைவர் மு. இளங்கோவன் அவர்கள் சின்னஞ்சிறு குழந்தைகள் முதல் பெரியவர்கள் வரை கேட்டுச் சுவைக்கும் வகையில் மணல்மேட்டு மழலைகள் என்ற தலைப்பில் எழுதிய பாடல்களை நூல்வடிவில் வெளியிட்டுள்ளார். புதுவை இசையறிஞர் கலைமாமணி கா. இராசமாணிக்கனார் அவர்களின் மேற்பார்வையில் இசைத்தென்றல் இராஜ்குமார் இராசமாணிக்கம் அவர்கள் இப்பாடல்களுக்கு இசையமைத்து ஒலிவட்டாக உருவம் கொடுத்துள்ளார். இந்த ஒலிவட்டினையும் நூலினையும் மாண்புமிகு புதுச்சேரி சட்டப்பேரவைத் தலைவர் அரங்க. செல்வம் அவர்கள் நிகழ்ச்சிக்குத் தலைமை தாங்கி வெளியிட உள்ளார்கள். அறிஞர்கள், தமிழ் உணர்வாளர்கள், மாணவர்கள் கலந்துகொள்ளும் இந்த நிகழ்வில் தாங்கள் கலந்துகொண்டு சிறப்பிக்குமாறு அன்புடன் கேட்டுக்கொள்கின்றோம்.

அழைப்பின் மகிழ்வில்
வயல்வெளித் திரைக்களம்
புதுச்சேரி – 605 003

நாள்: 25. 04. 2022 / நேரம்: மாலை 6.30 மணி
இடம்: செயராம் உணவகம் (Hotel Jayaram), புதுச்சேரி

நிகழ்ச்சி நிரல்

தமிழ்த்தாய் வாழ்த்து: கலைமாமணி கா. இராசமாணிக்கம் அவர்கள்

தலைமை,
ஒலிவட்டு மற்றும் நூல் வெளியீடு
மாண்புமிகு பேரவைத் தலைவர் ஏம்பலம் அரங்க. செல்வம் அவர்கள்
புதுச்சேரி சட்டப்பேரவை

ஒலிவட்டு முதல்படி பெறுதல்
திரு. கே.பி. கே. செல்வராஜ் அவர்கள்
தலைவர், திருப்பூர் முத்தமிழ்ச் சங்கம்

நூல் முதல்படி பெறுதல்
புரவலர் திரு. ந. க. குணத்தொகையன் அவர்கள், புதுச்சேரி

அருளாசியுரை
தவத்திரு சிவஞான பாலய சுவாமிகள்
இருபதாம் பட்டம், பொம்மபுர ஆதீனம்

ஒலிவட்டுச் சிறப்புப் படிகளைப் பெறுதல்
முனைவர் வி. முத்து அவர்கள்
தலைவர், புதுவைத் தமிழ்ச் சங்கம்

பேராசிரியர் சு. பழனியாண்டி அவர்கள்
தாளாளர், சுப்பிரமணியம் கலை அறிவியல் கல்லூரி, மோகனூர்

மருத்துவர் ச. முத்துராமன்

பொறியாளர் ச. பார்த்தசாரதி, ஆசிரியர் – வலைத்தமிழ்

சிங்கைக் கவிஞர் அ.  இளங்கோவன் அவர்கள்

வாழ்த்துரை
பேராசிரியர் ப. சிவராசி,
இசுலாமியாக் கல்லூரி, வாணியம்பாடி

ஒலிவட்டு அறிமுகவுரை
பொம்மலாட்டக் கலைஞர் மு. கலைவாணன்

வரவேற்புரை
திரு. தூ. சடகோபன் அவர்கள்

நன்றியுரை
திரு. கோ. முருகன் அவர்கள்
புதுச்சேரி இலக்கிய வட்டம்.

PRESS RELEASE

Corporation school students benefit from Every Child a Scientist program at MSSRF

Today March 23, 2022, thirty school students completed the 15-day science course at M S Swaminathan Research Foundation, Taramani, Chennai. Each of them was awarded a certificate by the Executive Director – Dr G N Hariharan, and the other scientists from MSSRF. The children (both girls and boys) are from Class VIII, and study in the English and Tamil medium Corporation Higher Secondary school, Taramani.

“Every Child A Scientist” (ECAS) program at the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) was initiated in the year 2002 with an aim to kindle scientific curiosity among students in the age group of 12- 15 years. These students lack access to recent developments in science and to use modern scientific and learning tools, but are eager and have a tremendous capacity to learn. The ECAS programme focuses on triggering the ability to question, in the students of classes VI to VIII studying in Corporation schools, that are overseen by the Education Department, Corporation of Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Every year about 300 students from Government schools from specific zones of Chennai Corporation utilize the facility.

“Children’s scientific temperament directly contributes to a country’s progress,” says Prof. M.S. Swaminathan, who donated an initial endowment grant of Rs. 25.00 Lakhs associated with the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Development, and Disarmament. Prof. Swaminathan was the recipient of the prize in 1999.

Learning materials and Facilities at the Centre
• The centre is equipped with modern learning tools specifically to bridge the digital divide. Individual desktop systems will provide for personalised educational platform, sharpen their computer skills to make them “Future Ready” in the era of digitization.
• About fifty specially tailored multimedia learning modules have been prepared, and the 15-day course will be flexibly tailored using these modules.
• The developed course content is based on topics prescribed in their school curriculum with additional relevant information to make learning easier and interesting.
• Conducting basic laboratory experiments to promote “learning by doing” in physics, chemistry and biology
• Field activities to nurture a connect with nature in all its diversity, specifically soil, water, flora and fauna and their inter- connectedness of all life forms

This program continues with generous CSR funding by the Larsen and Toubro group as well as administrative support by the Education Department, Corporation of Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

The inauguration program Hon’ble Minister for School Education, Government of Tamil Nadu, Shri Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi, is here https://www.mssrf.org/small-press/need-of-more-science-based-education-to-counter-misinformation-2/

PRESS RELEASE

Mina Swaminathan

Mina Swaminathan (née Bhoothalingam), school teacher, educator, educationist, and child care expert, who chaired the committee that recommended what became the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), died on March 14 at her home in Chennai. She was 89. She was one of the founders of the Mobile Creches, a former chair of the Delhi Social Welfare Board, an Emeritus Trustee of the M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, a founding member of the Centre for Women’s Development Studies, and an international consultant with UNESCO and UNICEF on Early Childhood Care and Education. She also worked in the field of theatre as a means of social and women’s empowerment.

She is survived by her husband, M. S. Swaminathan, three daughters, Soumya Swaminathan, Madhura Swaminathan, Nitya Rao, five grandchildren, and her brother, Ravi Bhoothalingam.

As Chair of the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) Committee on The Preschool Child she steered the development of the Report on the Preschool Child (1972) which led to the setting up of ICDS,  the largest and most comprehensive child care service in the developing world.  Her contribution to ICDS, particularly in Tamil Nadu, is notable after she moved to Chennai in 1989, setting up mobile training teams – a unique innovation, travelling widely across the state, working with ICDS frontline workers and providing practical guidance and encouragement.

At a time when it was not publicly recognized she played a significant role in getting professional, political and national attention focussed on the rights and needs of the young child and women of the underprivileged and marginalized sections of the population. A fiery advocate and practitioner, she devoted with passion and conviction, five long decades to childcare and education and gender equality. Communication, especially the innovative use of creative and educational drama was critical to her work.

She was the national President of the Indian Association for Preschool Education and the editor of its journal, BALAK.   She spearheaded the introduction of early childhood care and education (ECCE) into the National Policy on Education 1986 as well as its Plan of Action, 1989 and was chair of the Focus Group on Early Childhood of NCERT, which prepared the National Curriculum Framework in 2005.  She was a founder and leader of the Alliance for Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD).

She consolidated her life-long experience into the project Action for Child Care and Education Strategies and Services (ACCESS), a programme for networking of stakeholders to support training, research and advocacy on ECCE at the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF). Her work in this field, prescient at the time, brought to focus the need for all-round development of the young child, in particular attention to underweight, malnutrition and low birth-weight, all of which has adverse impact on the cognitive abilities in later life. The results of this unique project were summarized in the book titled As the Salt in the Seas, compiled by her and L.S Saraswathi.

An activist with strong political commitment, she acted fearlessly, speaking out on behalf of the marginalized. She never cared for personal power or positions.  In her early years, soon after returning from Cambridge, she resigned from her Planning Commission job to take up her passion for teaching children.

A writer and planner as well, her high levels of innovation, the ability to think pragmatically and most importantly, learning from her own and others’ mistakes spoke of her versatility. Through her ability to bridge different disciplines, she inspired and converted professionals, non-governmental organizations, child care workers, policy and decision makers to become champions for child rights and early childhood development.

Among her numerous books, articles and papers, are three popular teachers’ manuals in ECCE entitled Play Activities For Young Children published (1984), The First Three Years (1989) and Play Activities For Child Development (2008). These were based on her experiences with the youngest age-group, first at the Nehru Experimental Centre at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, in Mobile Creches and in Asian countries.  She also authored Who Cares? (1985) a study of day care services for low-income working women and The First Five Years (1998) a state-of-the-art review of child care services in India. Some of these publications have been widely translated into other Indian languages and went into many editions.