HAPPENING -- 24:

NATIONAL HANDWRITING DAY:

TRIBAL CHILDREN BENEFIT FROM PROFESSIONAL TRAINING..

BY P S SUNDAR.

Yesterday (Jan 23) turned out to be a red-letter day in the life of many tribal children in The Nilgiris, thanks to their getting a free-of-cost training in good handwriting in English by the ‘Cal-Leo-Graphy School of Handwriting and Calligraphy’.

“We conducted this special programme to mark the National Handwriting Day celebrated all over the world on January 23 annually to encourage people, especially students, to go back to the system of using pen or pencil on ruled paper and revive the art of writing a good hand”, Leo Fernandes, Founder of ‘Cal-Leo-Graphy’ School told me.

The programme was organised at Victoria Armstrong Memorial Nursery and Primary School (VAMS) run by the Nilgiris Adivasi Welfare Association in Kotagiri.

“The majority of our students are from tribal communities.  We gave them all four-ruled Notebook to practise the handwriting in the way taught at the programme”, VAMS Principal Poovizhi Sivakumar said.

Leo Fernandes highlighted the importance of good handwriting to the students for scoring high marks in exams and how handwriting changes one’s lifestyle and character.

He taught them the way to write English alphabets with strokes for both capital and small letters, typically called upper and lower case letters.

 

“I also taught teachers the way to teach handwriting to their students and assured to visit the school periodically to help tribal children acquire a good handwriting in English”, Leo Fernandes said.

These children have benefited from a professional approach denied to many, thanks to the foresightedness of VAMS Correspondent Alwas and Education Director Vijayakumar.

Caroline Gilfillan, visitor from England who is helping the children learn English, honoured Leo Fernandes.

(response can also be sent to: pssundar.coonoor@gmail.com)