When an IAS officer, Mr GS Sameeran was transferred from the post of former District Collector of Coimbatore to Greater Chennai Corporation as Joint Commissioner recently, the saddest lot were the school children of the district. He had created a deep bond with the school going children in the district with his initiative the – ‘Polam Right- means ‘Let’s go Right’.
The step was taken with a main aim of giving wings to the dream of the government students with the help of right career guidance especially through exposure visits by the Collector himself.
A BUS RIDE
While speaking to Indian Masterminds, the officer said, “Under this program I interact directly with the government school students and meet them at a place of their interest. I have a slot every week, mostly on Saturdays to meet these children to motivate and guide them for a better future ahead.”
The first such interaction took place earlier last year when the school children were coming back to their institutions after a long break due to the pandemicMr. Sameeran, took a set of 50 school children for a bus tour. They visited all the important places of Coimbatore and also interacted with the officer on various topics related to their career and general knowledge. This was the beginning of this initiative and a very positive response was received. This is when the officer planned on conducting such sessions every week.
During Mr. Sameeran’s tenure as the District Collector, he had 10-12 such sessions covering more than 600 government school students, interacting with them on various subjects like life skills, career opportunities etc. “During these visits we take them to their places of interest or institution of excellence where they are exposed to new aspects of science and technology,” he said.
EXPOSURE
He took around 50 school students of 12 government and government-aided schools to the Kurudampalayam village in Periyanaickenpalayam block as the village is famous for its unique solid waste management. The session turned out to be very informative for the children. They got to know about the source segregation and management of municipal solid waste.
Mr. Sameeran said, “Under this program we have also revived the Regional Science Centre in Coimbatore. Through this, we have promoted STEM education which when elaborated means science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Apart from this, we have started a model school in Coimbatore where more than 100 children have been enrolled. These students who belong to the socio-economic backward sections, are given best of the best facilities.”
