Leadership program (October 2, 2013)

Parasuram Salammal Trust in partnership with Theni District Naidu Mahajana Sangam organised a special leadership training program for college students in Theni District on October 2, 2013. Eminent personalities from different fields addressed the participants about the importance of leadership qualities among students, who are future leaders of the country. 

The program began with a yoga program for participating students conducted by Dr. Parasuraman. Prof. Mohana Sundaram conducted a session on soft skills, including how to think-out-of-the-box, how to motivate team members etc. Mr. A Amarnath, IFS spoke about Civil Service as a leadership career option for college students. 

An event management company from Madurai conducted special activities on team work and leadership, in which the students were divided into several teams and were assigned tasks. The team that performed well in these activities were awarded prizes and the best participant of the program was awarded the "Leader of the future" prize.

Financial assistance to students - Nagaraj, Vignesh and Padmanaban (2013)

Continuing its effort in supporting the students from economically weaker sections, PST provided financial assistance to the following students in 2013:

Sl No	Name of the Student	Amount	Description
1.	P. Nagaraj Allinagaram Govt Hr. Sec School	Rs. 3000	1st year tuition fee for his course in TN Polytechnique
2.	R. Vignesh St. Allosys Hr. Sec School, Rayappanpatti	Rs. 5000	To enable them attend the Engineering Counseling
3.	S. Padmanaban NS Boys Hr. Sec School, Theni	Rs. 5000

Free Medical camp at Shri Muthalammal Higher Sec School, Vadaputhupatty (June 21, 2013)

A medical camp was organised by PST at Shri Muthalammal Higher Sec School, Vadaputhupatty on June 21, 2013. Dr. VijayaKumrar and Dr. A Anburajan examined 209 students and distributed free medicines for them. The camp was inaugurated by the school Secretary Mr. Radhakrishnan.

வாங்க படிக்கலாம் 2013 - Stundet Career guidance program

PST joined hands with Village Committee of Allinagaram to organise the second edition of வாங்க படிக்கலாம் - a career guidance program for the students of Allinagaram & nearby villages. The objective of the program, which was organised on May 19, 2013, was to provide the students with required information about the "what courses to study" and "where to study" based on their interests. Motivational speaker Mr. Suba Marimuthu spoke to the students about the importance of higher education during the opening ceremony. 

Senior professors, academicians, software professionals, doctors and youngeters manned the four counselling desks - Medical-Agriculture, Engineering, Arts-Sciences and Catering-Polytechnique-Law. Students' queries related to these courses were answered by the experts, who also suggested the colleges best suited for a student based on their education preferences, cut-off marks etc. The queries varied from colleges offering a particular course, the application procedure, fee structures of different colleges etc. 

Fifty four students participated and benefited from the program. Parents of the students also were seen in good attendance to clarify their doubts about the education opportunities available for their children. According to Dr. Shanmuga Priya, a Govt. Doctor who was in-charge of Medical counselling, many female students were interested in knowing about various options available to them in the medicine-related courses like nursing, pharmacy etc. Ms. Dhivya Darshini, another student counsellor, felt that there was clarity among the students about what courses they wanted to study. They utilised this opportunity to know more about the career path that awaits them if they pursue these courses.

Mr. Asokan, Director of PST said that though the program did not receive the same response as the 2012 edition, he was happy that students from far-off towns like Chinamannur came to attend the program. He said, "This year we gave a questionarrie to the participating students to get a feedback about how useful the counselling was. We also asked the parents as to how the program can be improved. The Trust would continue to organise this event in the coming years incorporating these valuable feedback from students and parents. It is very important to provide the information to students from rural background about the various options available to them".

PST sincerely thanks Dr. A Balakrishnana (Agri) & Dr. Shanmuga Priya, M.B.B.S, Er. Muthu Krishnan, Er. B. Ramesh Babu Maharajan, Prof. Kavitha, G. Raja Siva BCE, Ms. M Chitra Devi, S. Senthil Kumar M.Sc I, Thamarai Kannan and Ms. Dhivya Dharshini for extending their valuable time and support for the program. 

Model Exams 2013

As a part of the "வழிகாட்டி" program, model exams in Maths, Physics and Chemistry were conducted for XII students of 3 Govt. High schools in Theni District - Allinagaram, Kandamanur and Koduvilarpatti. Around 252 students participated in the special model exams organised by the Trust for the fourth consecutive year in association with the Rotary Club of Theni (Click here for the model exams conducted during the previous years).

School Name	No.of students	1st Rank	2nd Rank	3rd Rank
Allinagaram	108	S.Selvi	P.Muthuselvi	T.Anandi
Kandamanur	114	K.Parthiban	A.Sathya	S.Sakthimala
Koduvilarpatti	30	S.Deviswari	P.Sharmila	K.SreeDevi

The students who secured the 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd ranks in these model exams were awarded merit shields & cash prizes (Rs. 500, 350 & 250) as incentives for their performances. These prizes were sponsored by the Rotary Club of Theni & Dr.A.Anburajan (Trustee member) respectively. A prize distribution ceremony was organised in Allinagaram Govt High School which was attended by the Headmasters, teachers, and students from these schools. The President of Rotary Club of Theni G.Narayana Babu spoke about the areas to be focused while preparing for the final examination, giving emphasis on time management.

We thank Ms. Dhanam, Ms.Amirtham & Ms.Kavitha for evaluating the answer sheets & providing detailed comments for the students.

Drawing competitions - January 18 & 24 2013

To commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, PST organised a series of drawing competition in two schools in Theni district - Koduvilarpatty and Allinagaram Govt. High schools. More than 50 students participated in the competition. A special event was organised in Allinagaram Govt, where Shri Poornanantha Swami enlightened the students about Swami Vivekananda, his teachings and his life history. Prizes were also distributed during the event to the winners of the competition. A first-aid kit was also presented to the Allinagaram school from the Trust.