We have grown up reading about famous personalities and their respective contributions towards society at large. We have learnt about administrative policies and warfare from revered Sultans, about class distinction and social equality from German philosophers, and about colonialism from Indian authors and poets during the freedom movement. While we learnt about the significant events of the past, we seldom came across personalities who taught us about specific moral traits like honesty, compassion, loyalty, dedication, etc.
The only popular books where such stories could be found were the Panchatantra and Grimms Fairy Tales. But they weren’t as much a part of school textbooks. However, Tamil Nadu is making some exceptional changes with regards to this.
Erode’s 8-year-old M Yasin has made it to school textbooks for his honesty. This is a part of the State Council of Educational Research and Training’s (SCERT) attempt to include real-life stories of local heroes into school textbooks.
According to sources, Yasin, a class 2 student at a government school at Chinnasemur and the son of casual labourers, was playing with his classmates during the interval when he happened to spot an abandoned bag. He immediately handed the bag over to his class teacher. After checking, the teacher found Rs. 50,000 inside the bag. The school authorities not just lauded Yasin for his honesty but also informed Superintendent of Police Sakthiganesan about the boy’s work.
The incident has led the boy to secure a spot in a school lesson narrating the incident while teaching students about honesty. The entire story is not just illustrated in the book but a photograph of him has also been included in the chapter.
However, that’s not all. After appreciation from the media started pouring in and news spread, Rajinikanth invited Yasin to his house!
Previously, ‘Padman’ Arunachalam Muruganantham and Paralympic star Mariyappan Thangavelu had made it to the pages of textbooks.
2nd std student of an Government school gesture has published in Tamilnadu school text books.
Mohammed Yasin has found 50,000 rs near his school premises which he handed over it to S.P Police.
Actor Rajini has come forward to help him for his studies in future too
Hats off . pic.twitter.com/zchEvWOxQP
— Kishore Chandran 🇮🇳 (@Kishore36451190) June 9, 2019
We hope Tamil Nadu’s initiative gives way to many such local heroes!