EDUCATION

Cultural programme by DAV-8 students
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA, Jan 16 — Students of DAV English Medium Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, organised a colourful cultural programme as part of the carnival celebrations on the school premises, here today. Over 20 stalls of eatables and games were also put up.

The programme began with an invocation to Goddess Saraswati, followed by a group song Bharat Ke Veer Aangna, based on the Kargil episode. Girls dressed in bright colours presented an equally vibrant Haryanavi dance Ghera Ghoomta Sawan Aaya. One of the teachers, Dr Rabban, presented a ghazal, while a Punjabi folk song was sung by Neetu, Richa and Poonam.

A song Paed Lagao, Hamen Bachao, conveying the message of saving the environment, was also presented, followed by an English song, Sleeping Child, by one of the students.

The dance items which came next were a riot of colours on-stage. In a Rajasthani banjara dance, girls dressed in black swayed to the tune of a folk song, typical of the gypsies of the state.

Bhangra, with its frisky movements and colourfully attired boys, made the evening come alive with the beat of the dhol. An item on national integration included songs and dances of different states.

An art exhibition was put up by students and a new science block was also inaugurated on the occasion. The school magazine was also released by the chief guest, Mr R.C. Jeewan, Principal of DAV College, Chandigarh.

Mr Jeewan appreciated the efforts of the students and teachers in putting up an entertaining show. He said students could be made to excel in any field, provided teachers were ready to believe that they were not usually "careless but cared less''.

Earlier, the Principal of the school, Ms Santosh Bhandari, read out the annual school report in which she highlighted the achievements of the students and the school. Nearly 150 students were given prizes at a prize distribution function held prior to the cultural programme.

Stress on science practicals
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 16 — The Educationist, a voluntary organisation of the city, today held a science workshop at Shishu Niketan Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 22.

This workshop, meant for tenth grade students, was held especially for the merit holders of the Science Olympiad, held on December 26, 1999. About 50 students from different schools attended the workshop.

It was conducted by Mr Gurdev Singh Joshi, former director of the State Institute of Science Education, Punjab, along with other members from reputed institutes. The workshop laid stress on practical portions of science. Dr Joshi gave practical demonstrations in chemistry.

The students were also provided with subject books and other printed material free of cost.

Meanwhile, the executive council of the Educationist announced a special prize for students securing 90 per cent and above marks in science subjects in the board examination.

The workshop was prepared for the students of the CBSE board. Its coordinators were Lovleen and Bhupinder.

School hosts races, drills
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA, Jan 16 — Races and drills marked the annual sports meet of Satluj Public School (Primary wing), Sector 2, on the school premises here today. Students participated in various sport events and presented ribbon drill, french drill etc.

Students waved brightly coloured scarves and ribbons during the drills, which had lively music playing in the background. Also, a tug-of-war was organised at the meet.

For the parents and staff of the school, a musical chairs contest was also organised. While Mr Manvinder Sandhu won in the contest for the staff, Ms Madhurima, a parent of a Class IV student, won the prize in the competition organised for the parents.

At the meet, a resident of the township, Ms Anuradha Pathak, was hounoured for her achievements. She was given the title of “Morning glory of the city park”. She urged the students to adopt morning exercises as part of their routine and keep themselves mentally and physically fit.

Interactive workshop on education
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 16 — “Education needs to be fun, and only then would the children react positively”. This seemed to be the credo today at an interactive session on ‘Learning can be fun’ with school teachers, organised by Dorling Kindersley, a UK-based company that deals with education, at the Shivalik View, Sector 17.

The workshop was attended by 30 schools, which included teachers and principals of various private schools of the city and nearby areas. A total of about 60 participants deliberated on the issue of how teaching in the schools could be “weaned away from the old-fashioned boring routine of heavy bags and dull and tedious-looking text books.”

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Bikram Grewal, Managing Director of Dorling Kindersley, India, said, “Education today is a necessity and not luxury. But the important thing in education is the ‘cutting edge’, just as it is in any other market. The kids these days are much more smarter, aware and receptive, and this need and ability of theirs certainly has to be fulfilled”.

Mr Grewal later presented a slide show of products like books in visual forms and also education available on CD-ROMS for all ages.

Talking to TNS he added that such interactive educational material is initially being marketed for a “niche market” but later even ordinary schools would be working with it. “The state of Tamil Nadu, for example, has asked us to produce CD-ROMS for their government schools in Tamil to help their students because the real mind-set of the country comes from government schools”, Mr Grewal said.

Today was the inaugural function of the opening of the office of Dorling Kindersley in Sector 43 here.

The teachers were also told to include puzzles, activities, visual aids and quiz items to help not only stimulate the kids’ minds but also to unload them of the burden of heavy bags and uninteresting-looking books.

The emphasis, with the use of various educational material by Dorling Kindersley, seemed to be more and more on words and pictures working together, to catch hold of a child’s small span of attention; on reaching to all types of learners and on encouraging independent skills.

Most participants at the session did confess to using only traditional methods of teaching. They however, added that combining fun and education was definitely a more enlivening way of teaching that would take the boredom out of their occupation.

SEMINARS

Symposium on poet’s works
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 16 — A symposium on the poetic journey of Dr Sudha Jain was held at DAV College Auditorium, Sector 10, here today.

In his presidential remarks, Mr Vijay Saighal, Editor of Dainik Tribune, said the sense of belongingness had rightly been projected in her poems, which gave solace and comfort to readers. Dr Narinder Mohan from Delhi University said though she had been writing for the past over 40 years, she had to find new idioms, keeping in view the far-reaching trends in information technology.

Dr Lalchand Gupt 'Mangal', Head of the Department of Hindi at Kurukshetra University, gave an account of her poetic skills by reciting poems from her three anthologies. Earlier, Ms Kiran Parmar, who had done her M.Phil on the works of Dr Jain, said a sense of protest prevailed in the poems of Dr Jain, who had revolted against colonial rule and its impact after independence.

Dr Gupt, while detailing the evolution of her poetry from Gulabon ka Shehar to Pehli Dastak, said her images were so strong that these penetrated into the heart of readers. Through her satire, she had commented that the city was being governed by officials sitting in air-conditioned rooms, he added. Dr Jagmohan Chopra from Department of Correspondence Studies, Panjab University, was of the view that Dr Jain's works touched the core of the heart.

‘Terrorism a challenge to democracy’
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Jan 16 — Development and security of the country can go side by side, Maj-Gen Rajinder Nath (retd) said while presiding over an open discussion “Menace of terrorism — a grave challenge” here today.

Criticising the Pakistani policy of proxy war against India, he opined that the command and control of the organisations involved in the security of the country should be unified.

Veteran journalist Radhey Shyam Sharma felt that terrorism was a challenge to democracy and was a short cut to achieve hegemony. He criticised all types of terrorism created in the names of religion, caste and communalism.

Col P.K. Vasudeva (retd) while criticising the use of anti-terrorist forces for the security of political leaders said it was unfortunate that the armed forces were not involved in the decision-making process.

Dr Harjinder Singh “Laltu” from Panjab University said though terrorism was to be denounced when its goals were undesirable, yet all issues could not be handled through Army.

Prominent among those who spoke on the occasion were Col DS Cheema (retd), Dr PP Arya, Col Thakur Ludra (retd), Mr PC Suri and Mr Swarn Singh..

CULTURE

Feast of classical music
Tribune News Service

KALKA, Jan 16 — A classical music programme was presented at Inder Sharma Sangeet Vidhalaya here today afternoon.

A delightful cultural programme was presented by students of the institute. The other performers included renowned tabla player Pawan Kumar Verma from Chandigarh and violin player of repute Sukhdev Mudhkar of Solan.

Inder Sharma Vidhalaya was established about 30 years ago and is providing education in classical music to students from Kalka and surrounding areas, including Parwanoo, Pinjore and Panchkula.

According to Mr Inder Sen Sharma, students of the institute appear for examinations at Prayag Sangeet Samiti at Allahabad.