APJ Abdul Kalam in Sambalpur. Telegraph picture

Sambalpur, Nov. 29: Former President APJ Abdul Kalam today stressed on the importance of quality education, while inaugurating the 150th anniversary celebrations of the Chandrasekhar Behera Zilla School here.

“Knowledge is nothing but the assimilation of creativity, righteousness of the heart and courage,” Kalam said.

He began his speech in the Sambalpuri dialect, greeting the students with Juhar, triggering great enthusiasm among the impressionable audience.

The veteran scientist administered oath to the students to become a good human being and work hard to achieve their goals. He also asked the students to repeat after him some inspiring lines like: “When there is righteousness in the heart, harmony in the house, order in the nation, there is peace in the world.”

He stressed on the need for good teachers as they create enlightened human beings. There was a special question-and-answer session during which Kalam took questions from the students. Nirali Nanda, a Class X student of St Joseph’s Convent, asked the former President about the Indian education system.

She said: “APJ Abdul Kalam has always been my role model, and I am lucky to have got a chance to talk to the missile man of India.”

Kalam also released a souvenir. School and mass education minister Debi Prasad Mishra, additional principal secretary to the Prime Minister Pramod Mishra, state school and mass education secretary Usha Padhee were present at the occasion.

Established in 1850 as an Anglo-vernacular school, the Chandrasekhar Behera Zilla School got patronage from the British in 1852. The school was shifted to the GM College campus in 1927 and renamed as the Sambalpur Zilla School. The school shifted to its present building in 1954.

It may be noted that many prominent persons of the state, including Prime Minister’s additional principal secretary P.K. Mishra, first principal of SCB Medical College Ray Saheb Sanatan Pujari, geophysicist Lalatendu Mansingh and former diplomat Lalit Mansingh, are alumni of the school.