Panaji: Chairman of Goa Rehabilitation Board and Cumbharjua MLA Rajesh Faldessai said that next year onwards the top three students of Standard XII in his constituency will be awarded Rs 1 lakh scholarship each. He was speaking at the felicitation of Xth and XII Std students from Cumbarjua Constituency for excelling in the board exams 2023, held at Corlim on Saturday. Around 150 students were felicitated at the function.
Also present were deputy director of education (planning) Manoj Sawaikar, Corlim sarpanch Baptista Pereira, St Estavam sarpanch Smita Sawant, Cumbarjua sarpanch Nandakumar Shet, Golti Naveli sarpanch Mario Pinto, and sarpanch of Sao Matias Mala, Divar Supriya Tari.
Congratulating the meritorious students, he said that students must focus on self-discipline and hard work, and cited examples of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Former President A P J Abdul Kalam and their confidence. “Education is very important, there should be no compromise. My aim is to ensure that no one in my constituency should remain behind in completing their education. If anyone has difficulty, please approach me. I will help them. We have also planned to award the top three students of 12 Standard in the constituency with Rs 1 lakh each next year. This felicitation programme is held not to belittle those who have not performed well, but rather to inspire other students, ” he said.
“Students must respect elders and acquire knowledge. Parents take a lot of pains to put their children to school. Students must also focus on sports and physical activities. Our Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, who is the education minister, has unveiled a lot of schemes for students. I am constantly working hard in the health, sports, and education fields. I took up repairs of the school at Cumbharjua at my own cost. We need to make facilities available for the students. Students must also be given the freedom to choose their own careers. We must encourage them, this gives them confidence,” he said
In his address. Sawaikar said that acquiring multi-skills will be important for students in the years ahead. “Today, the world is looking at students as multi-disciplinary and multi-skilled persons. The new NEP model now allows various skills, like music, to get credit that will be beneficial for jobs,” he said.
Sawant said that this is the first time he has witnessed such a big programme in the constituency. Pinto said that the MLA has taken a good initiative to felicitate the students. Tari urged the students to continue their performance. Pereira said that, “We acknowledge the hard work of the students and the efforts of the parents.”