Shala Praveshotsav: CM says one can excel in life with hardwork & determination, cites PM Modi’s journey

2 min readMumbaiJun 23, 2026 08:48 PM IST

Speaking on the occasion, CM Patel said, "The students here and even their parents may think that they belong to an ordinary family and how can they make progress in life."

Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Tuesday launched the 24th edition of annual Shala Praveshotsav from B N High School in Vadnagar of Mehsana district, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s alma mater.

Addressing the children and their parents on the occasion, the CM said that PM Modi has provided an inspiring example of how a person from ordinary family background can excel in life with hardwork and determination.

Shala Praveshotsav, an annual school enrollment drive, was started by Narendra Modi in 2003 when he was the Chief Minister of the state.

Speaking on the occasion, CM Patel said, “The students here and even their parents may think that they belong to an ordinary family and how can they make progress in life…To come out of this mindset, PM Modi has provided a proud example to all of us. That with ardency and fearlessness, one can reach the destination of (being) prime minister from an ordinary family.”

The CM recalled how Shala Praveshotsav and Kanya Kelavani, launched by Modi when he was the CM of Gujarat, transformed the state’s education sector. “At one time, the school dropout ratio of Gujarat was 37% – meaning out of 100 enrolled students, 37 used to drop out. Today, with this campaign, we are getting two-fold benefits. First, there is 100% enrollment and after that the dropout (ratio) has come down to less than 1%. It is a big success of this initiative of our Prime Minister,” CM Patel said.

As part of the campaign, the CM enrolled 390 new students to the school. At the same time, 24 children, who had dropped out, were re-enrolled in the school. The CM expressed happiness on the efforts of teachers to identify and re-enroll those 24 students.

The CM advised the students to limit the use of mobile phones and television and focus on their studies. During the function, the participants took a pledge to follow traffic rules.

During the function, the CM felicitated students who had excelled in the fields of sports and art.

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Those who attended the event included local MLA Kirit Patel, office bearers of Vadnagar nagarpalika, District Collector S K Prajapati and District Development Officer Anchu Wilson, among others.