Socio-political system has failed to ensure education for all children'

Updated on: Saturday, February 12, 2011

In spite of several path-breaking legislative initiatives aimed to address the problems in the education sector, it is still “a fact” that our socio-political system has failed to ensure that a majority of children between the age of 6 and 14 are in school, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar said here on Friday.

“Education is the primary vehicle by which the economically and socially marginalised people can lift themselves out of the mire of poverty and to equip themselves with the means to participate fully in community affairs,” she said.

Ms. Kumar was speaking at a government function after unveiling the statue of former Deputy Prime Minister and freedom fighter Babu Jagjivan Ram inside the premises of Tagore Arts College at Lawspet.

One of the major tasks that education performs in a democratic society was to prepare the youth to take on their responsibilities, which, she said, was extremely crucial in a “culturally, socially, linguistically and ethnically diverse society such as ours.”
Commemorative stamp

Talking about former Deputy Prime Minister, Ms. Kumar said he was a crusader for social justice and a freedom fighter. Discrimination is the “root cause of poverty and backwardness,” she said adding it also “helped foreigners invade the country.”

At the function, the Speaker released a commemorative stamp on freedom fighter V. Venkatasubba Reddiar, laid the foundation for a residential school for students belonging to the Scheduled Caste, multi-storied tenements for poor students and home for aged persons.

Others who spoke at the function included Chief Minister V. Vaithilingam, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly R. Radhakrishnan and Social Welfare Minister M. Kandasamy.

Socio-political system has failed to ensure education for all children'

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