The Hindu 12..01.2012
Children's parliament seeks action from Corporation
Staff Reporter
Students from Kannapan Nagar found it difficult to study
for their half-yearly exams as the power cut in the area was from 6
p.m. to 8 p.m. The schedule should be changed as the students living in
slums didn't have any other alternative, said one of the members of
children's parliament.
The children's parliament
organised last week at the night school run by Anbu Charities saw the
children coming up with issues they faced in everyday life which they
hoped would be solved by the authorities concerned.
According
to S. Franklin Manivannan, secretary of Anbu Charities, the proposal
prepared by the students was submitted to M. Gunashekaran, councillor of
Ward 45. He had promised that the issues would be raised in municipal
meeting, Mr. Manivannan said.
Open sewage and
manholes were another problem faced by the residents of the area. Open
manholes were risky as children used to play in the area, the members
pointed out. Another problem raised at the second session of the
parliament was the mosquito menace in the region.
Increasing
student dropout rate in the area, child labour in the city and
provision for providing drinking water were the other issues raised. The
students also expressed their wish to organise sports day periodically,
arrange for computer classes during half-yearly vacation and spoken
English class during summer holidays.
The ministers
and the speaker were elected through voting from among the 150 members
of the night class. Nandhini M, Std. XII student of Government Higher
Secondary School, Ganapathy, was the speaker while Divya. V, Std X
student of Government HSS, Rathinapuri, was the chief minister.
The
ministers were Priya A. of Corporation Middle School, Sanganoor, Ramesh
R. of Corporation Middle School, Sidhapudur, Venisha G. of Corporation
Middle School, Sanganoor, Azarutheen A. of Corporation Middle School,
Sanganoor, Ganesh P. of Government HSS, Rathinapuri, and Kaviya M. of
Government HSS, Rathinapuri.
The parliament was an
attempt to build leadership skills among students and encourage them to
deal with social issues, Mr. Manivannan said.
