Bhubaneswar, Nov 12 (IANS) Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Thursday inaugurated the state-level children’s festival ‘Suravi-2026’ and presented the Chief Minister’s Education Awards to meritorious individuals and institutions at a ceremony held at Capital High School here in Bhubaneswar.
According to an official statement, the three-day festival, organised by the School and Mass Education Department from November 12 to 14, is being held under the theme ‘Samruddha Bhasha, Samruddha Odisha’ (Prosperous Language, Prosperous Odisha). More than 2,500 students from across Odisha are participating in the event to showcase their talents, creativity and innovative ideas.
Addressing the assembled students, teachers and parents on the occasion, the Chief Minister said he felt immense satisfaction seeing the bright future of the country in front of him.
He said the event was not merely an ordinary children’s festival but a grand confluence of children’s dreams, creativity, talent and immense possibilities.
Highlighting the importance of childhood, he said that it is the sacred duty of parents and teachers to mould innocent children into responsible citizens through education, training, guidance and values.
Majhi also stated that Mobile phones should be used only as a medium for acquiring knowledge, not as a means of entertainment.
“Rather than joining the rat race for government jobs or trying to secure higher marks, as was common in the past, students should focus on making themselves capable, competent and qualified, because it is skills, not degrees, that provide the real guarantee of employment,” said the Chief Minister.
CM Majhi also said that Odisha’s rapid industrialisation would create lakhs of employment opportunities and urged students to prepare themselves to benefit from them.
On the occasion, the Chief Minister honoured 375 individuals and institutions under the ‘Mukhyamantri Shikhya Puraskar’ Awards for their contributions to the education sector for 2024 and 2025.
He also distributed the Chief Minister’s Odia Language Scholarships to meritorious students to encourage excellence in the study of the Odia language.
As part of initiatives to strengthen school education, Majhi launched the NIPUN App and inaugurated robotics laboratories in 807 schools across the state. The laboratories have been established at an investment of Rs 164.33 crore and will provide students of Classes VI to X with practical exposure to robotics, coding, Artificial Intelligence, machine learning and 3D printing.
A total incentive amount of Rs 138.97 crore has been provided under the Chief Minister’s Education Awards scheme from the block level to the state level.
Nabarangpur, Cuttack and Kalahandi districts were also recognised with the prestigious awards. Similarly, 7,350 meritorious students across the state are being provided annual scholarships of Rs 7,500 each under the Chief Minister’s Odia Language Scholarship scheme. Ten meritorious students and four CHSE toppers were felicitated at the ceremony.
–IANS
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