Copyright thehindu
On Monday, Panchami S.D., a class IX student of Victory Girls Higher Secondary School, Nemom, was in her classroom during the morning interval when she saw some rolled-up tissue paper near the teachers’ table. As the school was one of the accommodation centres for students participating in the Kerala School Sports Meet, some waste such as snack covers and the like had been left behind in the classroom by students from Ernakulam taking part in the senior girls’ handball event. Panchami on remembering her class teacher’s advice to students to keep the classroom clean picked up the tissue paper to throw it in the bin when she realised it contained something. She opened it to find a piece of jewellery and immediately took it to her class teacher Athulya who confirmed it was a gold chain. School head teacher in-charge Indu then informed the Nemom police who initiated steps to return the chain to its owner. On Tuesday, Panchami was at her school when she was informed by the head teacher about paying a visit to Minister for General Education V. Sivankutty. Accompanied by her parents Sajithkumar and Divya of Oorutambalam and the school authorities, Panchami reached the Secretariat Annexe 2 and met Mr. Sivankutty who congratulated her. “Panchami’s actions are an honour for the public education sector in the State,” Mr. Sivankutty said. “The Minister asked why I returned the gold chain. I replied that my father had taught me not to take anything that did not belong to me and return it to its rightful honour,” Panchami said. The Minister also asked Panchami about her studies and her performance in examinations. “Another Panchami has emerged as a symbol of truth from Oorutambalam where a historical struggle was waged under the leadership of Ayyankali for the right to education and Panchami attended class,” Mr. Sivankutty said. He said that Panchami had shown that beyond textbooks, honesty and social responsibility are the most important habits that a student should gain.
