Chennai: Thirukkural couplets, riddles, and inspirational quotes will soon feature in the morning assemblies in more than 3,000 govt schools statewide as a part of an initiative undertaken by a group of teachers.Required content has been provided free of cost to students in a 210-page guidebook designed by teachers of ‘Online Kalvi Radio’—a free-to-use digital platform housing more than 8 lakh audio files from students on lessons, stories, and poems, among others.“An assembly is the first activity for students every day, and it has to be made engaging. Generally, teachers and students taking part in the assembly do not get time to prepare beforehand. To help them, our guidebook has content for 210 days of the academic year,” said A Karthick Raja, a govt school teacher from Cuddalore who spearheaded the initiative.Teachers say the guidebook contains general knowledge questions and abbreviations, besides the couplets. “It will help students hone their reading skills as they don’t have to memorize proverbs or Thirukkural couplets anymore. Teachers can also make a log of students taking part in the assembly to track participation in extra-curricular activities,” said R Bhavani, a govt school teacher from Red Hills.The guidebooks have been distributed by the non-profit organisation Kalvi Kan Thirantha Kamarajar Foundation. So far, ₹2 lakh has been spent for the initiative.School education department officials welcomed the idea and said it could be implemented in more schools. “Many schools involve students in activities such as news-reading and reciting short moral stories during the assembly. GK questions are a welcome initiative. We also welcome suggestions and ideas from anyone to make these activities more engaging,” Chennai chief education officer M Kabir said.
