Bhubaneswar, Dec 24 (IANS): Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday urged students of Sainik School, Bhubaneswar to live up to the expectations of the nation.

Attending the diamond jubilee celebration of Sainik School here, Patnaik said, "I would like to urge the young cadets sitting here to seize each and every opportunity that you get, and live up to the expectations of the school as well as the nation."

Set up by legendary leader Biju Patnaik in 1962, Bhubaneswar Sainik School, after 60 glorious years, has become a benchmark for quality education, character building and personality enrichment, he said.

He said the school has not only produced some of the finest soldiers of the country, but a large number of its cadets have made significant achievements in the fields of civil services, medicine, engineering, merchant navy, entrepreneurship and many other fields.

It can take pride in its galaxy of alumni for the significant contribution they have made to society, the Chief Minsiter said.

Patnaik further said that the strength of our education system does not lie in academic excellence, but rests in the ability to empower the students with knowledge, confidence, responsibility, and ability to think and face situations of life independently.

The school stands apart for its efforts to instill the ethos of armed forces, and endeavour to awaken the individual potential of each student to serve his or her motherland in every sphere of life, he added.