Government initiative to orient 1,000 school teachers on archaeology across Tamil Nadu commences in Coimbatore 

The State Government’s announcement made last year for orienting 1,000 school teachers at the secondary level on the culture and religious aspects of Tamil Nadu, with the intent of sensitising younger generation to the cultural richness of hitherto unknown locations in Tamil Nadu, took effect in Coimbatore on Monday.

The State Government’s announcement made last year for orienting 1,000 school teachers at the secondary level on the culture and religious aspects of Tamil Nadu, with the intent of sensitising younger generation to the cultural richness of hitherto unknown locations in Tamil Nadu, took effect in Coimbatore.

Field visits to prominent places of archaelogical interest are the highlight of the six-day programme conducted jointly by the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) and Department of Archaeology for 75 teachers drawn from schools in Coimbatore, Tiruppur and the Nilgiris.

The last two days of the programme will be devoted for visits to Arachalur in Erode district, Pugalur in Karur, Keeladi in Sivaganga, Vembakottai in Virudhunagar district, Kalugamalai in Tuticorin district, and Adichanallur in Tirunelveli district, Principal of DIET, Coimbatore, V. Rajah said.

The programme will be conducted in phases for school teachers in the rest of the State, at the level of divisions, each encompassing a cluster of districts, till December-end.

Accomplished archaeologists have been roped in to pass down the wealth of information they possess on the various sites in Tamil Nadu under the five broad divisions: an introduction to archaeology, pre-historic period, neolithic age, iron age inscriptions, and art and architecture of past rulers.

“The exercise is to understand and appreciate the significance of archeological sites that had hitherto not been explored well,” S. Chandrasekar, Member, Advisory Committee, Illam Thedi Kalvi, said. “The mandate of the teachers will be to motivate students to dig deep into the historical significance of the unexplored locations in their surroundings,” Mr. Chandrasekar said.

Thankfully, the initiative of the State Government came amid apprehensions that the younger generation would grow up totally unaware of Tamil Nadu’s pride of place in archaology, he said.