More than 350 teachers received Dr Radhakrishnan award for the best teachers

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government plans to give free laptops to more than 2.5 lakh teachers in government and government-aided schools in the state. "An announcement will be made after consulting the chief minister," school education minister K A Sengottaiyan said at a function organised in the city on Thursday on the occasion of Teachers' Day.

The school education department is currently distributing free laptops to postgraduate teachers to enable them to teach Class XI and Class XII students using online resources. "As part of the central government scheme, the state government will replace 90,000 blackboards with smart boards this year," the minister said.

The government is also planning a complete revamp of the vocational education system that is in vogue in the state. Sengottiayan and school education secretary Pradeep Yadav recently visited Finland to learn about the latest technologies used in classrooms and the vocational education system prevalent in the Scandinavian country. "An 18-year-old can live without depending on his or her parents in Finland. The vocational education system in that country is so good that students are becoming professionals after finishing school," Sengottiayan said.

The government also plans to send its teachers to Finland to be trained in vocational education techniques. "We have requested officials in Finland. The training and other details will be finalised after detailed discussion," Sengottaiyan said. "We want to bring changes in the system so that students from Class IX can receive vocational training in our schools." Schools in Finland teach exercise and sports in schools to attract students, he said.

Fisheries minister D.Jayakumar, said teachers should adapt themselves to modern methods of teaching to capture the attention of their students.

At the function, 377 teachers received Dr Radhakrishnan award for the best teachers. The award carries a cash prize of 10,000, a silver medal and a certificate. Pradeep Yadav, school education director S Kannappan, elementary education director S Karupasamy and others felicitated the award winning teachers.

