Compiled by JO TIMBUONG, C. ARUNO and R. ARAVINTHAN
THE three pupils starting their schooling at SJK(T) Ladang Flemington experienced a unique first day with a traditional Tamil welcoming and initiation ceremony, reported Makkal Osai.
In Tamil culture, students entering a gurukkulam (school) provide guru thatchinai (offering) and begin learning by writing in rice or sand.
Pupils at the Hutan Melintang, Perak school met their Standard One class teacher M.Revathi and exchanged fruits as offering.
Revathi then led them in their first lesson by symbolically teaching them to write the Tamil alphabet in rice spread on a ceremonial platter.
School headmistress Jamilah Chinnakkannu said the symbolic ceremony was intended to expose the pupils to the culture and keep alive the traditions of Tamil education.
Tamil schools have become one of the few remaining public places where students can be exposed to such cultural aspects, she said.
Parents and Tamil educators praised the headmistress for giving prominence to Tamil cultural education even though she is from a different faith background.
The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.
