The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

EDUCATION

Where emphasis is on moral education
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 21 — “Moral persuasion, coupled with hard work has ensured success for the students of our school.” These were the views aired by Ms Rakesh Sachdeva, the Principal of DAV Model School, Sector 15. The school has carved a niche for itself among the educational institutes of the city by showing excellent results over the years.

“We lay emphasis on moral education, moral persuasion and moral support, combined with hard work, to get super success. The school lays stress on the conduct of weekly tests and the students are told to strictly follow the guidelines by teachers. In my opinion, the tests help in adjudging an outcome of the combined efforts of students and teachers. On the other hand, parents come to know about the position of their wards”, says Ms Sachdeva.

“The teacher’s role is like the traditional Indian guru who is responsible to develop all the aspects of the children, ranging from personality development to career development. Moreover, we have very senior teachers and they are also the paper-setters of the CBSE. They are well aware of the methods to score maximum in the exam as they tell them to attempt the question paper with expertise,” says the Principal.

The parents of the students of the school are quite satisfied with the contribution of the school. Arti Syal, the topper of class XII, topped the school and stood second in the Union Territory with 93.6 per cent in the commerce stream. She had topped All-India CBSE matriculation exam with 96 per cent marks two years ago. Her father, Mr Arun Syal, is very happy with the teachers and overall contribution of school.

“The results of the examination is the fruit of the labour put in by the students all over the year. But the role of a teacher cannot be sidelined. Undoubtedly, the institution and its Principal play an important role in creating a congenial atmosphere for studies. I am proud of my daughter Arti, who put her best efforts while studying, whether for the house tests or the finals. She was not a book worm and believed in putting in short but concentrated sittings while studying," says Mr Syal.

Arti’s mother, Ms Usha Syal, says the result of her daughter is as per her expectations. “Arti has never taken her studies lightly ever since she was admitted to DAV Model School in pre-nursery . From the very beginning her performance in the studies has been quite up to the mark and I hardly remember any instance of receiving complaint from any of her teachers. She has the qualities of a daughter which a mother can be proud of. Her faith in god and sincere efforts have bore fruit and the desired and deserved results are the outcome,” says Ms Syal.

Sharmila Chatterjee has topped the school in matriculation examination with 91.2 per cent marks. Her parents, Mr Ashok Chatterjee and Ms Shubra Chatterjee, are overwhelmed with her daughter’s success. Her father was taken ill during the exam and she prepared all alone in the house. “Parents’ presence means a lot to children during exam days. But this time I and my wife were out to Delhi. I had to undergo a bypass surgery during her exam. It was a difficult situation, but her regular attendance in school, self study and hard work, guidance and dedicated efforts of the teachers and motivation by the Principal did all the magic and she aggregated quite well despite so much tension in the house," says Mr Chatterjee.

Counselling in career options picks up
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 21 —With planning of careers at the right age assuming importance, the Guidance Resource Centre (GRC) of the State Institute of Education is busy helping young students choose a career option.

The bookings for the session are already being made three months in advance. Matric and class XII pass-outs are visiting the centre for counselling.

The centre assists the students know their abilities, aptitudes and attitudes. Experts believe that aptitude is an inborn ability and attitude is acquired from the environment that includes the family, friends and school. "People differ from one other on the basis of intelligence, personality, interests, levels of motivation and other psycho constructs. On the other side, aspirations also differ on the basis of social climate and overall environment. We match the aptitude and the aspirations of the students after adjudging them through aptitude tests and psychological testing," says Mr Krishan Kumar, a counsellor of the centre.

"After matching the two variables, we make sure that the right person chooses the right occupation because persons, who choose jobs on the basis of their abilities find job satisfaction."

The centre dates to the year 1986 and the graph representing the number of students has observed a steep rise over the years. The counselling programme is of four days' duration which includes two days of psychological testing and two days of information, education and training. Around 45 to 50 students are tested everyday and the result is provided within a week.

Counselling for career is provided during the months of April to July which is the time of admissions. Students come to take counselling on the advice of their parents. They are given tests in the morning and the parents are advised after the testing of their children.

The counselling centre is open throughout the year. After the admissions, it is the time for the failures of various competitive exams. The counsellors also help the school drop-outs and problem children and analyse them and motivate them. The centre has achieved good results. The counsellors have also saved some people from falling in wrong hands.

The centre has published 41 career series that carry information about career options and job prospects. This is the only centre in north India with so many career series published to its credit.

After taking the test and analysing the capabilities of the students, the experts suggest them to join a course as per their aptitude. "Sometimes the students have much higher aspirations than their abilities. They have to be convinced properly. It requires a real good effort to convince them and their parents," says Mr Surinder Singh , a counsellor.

"Many people are not ready to send their girls to far off places for better avenues. We make them believe that the girls are not less than boys in any way," says Mr Krishan Kumar.

"Our centre is doing a wonderful job of guiding people free of cost. Unfortunately, not many people know about the centre. They all should realise that counselling is required immediately after matriculation. Counselling at the right time saves effort and time," says Dr H.C. Sharma, Director of the institute.

CULTURE

Cultural programme at PEC
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 21 —A cultural performance generated during a one-month workshop on engineering was staged at Punjab Engineering College (PEC) here today evening.

Engineering and cultural programmes do appear as a paradox. Students managed to overcome the obstacles for a decent evening.The college started the mingling of cultural workshop with the engineering workshops in 1996. There has been commendable improvement in quality.

Dr V.P. Singh, superintendent of workshops, said earlier students would attend minimum lectures required for attendance and then jump off to their native places. Ms Vineeta Rai, Adviser to the UT Administrator, lit the inaugural lamp. The evening started with an invocation Mere kanth baso, asking goddess to lend her voice — Mere swaron ko apna swar do.

The cultural colours started spreading with a medley, comprising largely current musical hits. Kya bolti tu, Hum to muhabbat karega and Kisi disco mein jayen were only few among the collection clearly reflecting the current music trend.

Dipti Kaur Narula in the Rajasthani dance presentation deserved a special mention for the attire and body flow to the music with youthful enthusiasm.

Another hit of the evening was a dance collection, showing collection of dances of films from 1950. Apart from the beat, care was taken about the body movements and facial expressions.

History from Dam dam diga diga to Tama tama loge attracted crowd appreciation. Group dance and several other presents carried on into the late evening. Mr Rajnish Prakash, Principal, was also present on the occasion.

Another pop singer from Canada
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, June 21 — TIPS is again in pursuit of making a star. This time, it is experimenting with a voice which is said to have rocked many-a-club across Canada and UK. This singer, who was formally introduced by the company yesterday at a function held at Timber Trail Resorts, quite lives up to his name.

As he entered the conference room last night, one could see a lot of glitter all around him — from his bleached hair to his stone-studded belt. Ask him how he manages to carry himself through with that wild style, and Jazzy Bains (who likes to be called Jazzy B ) replies, "I feel it is very important for a singer to look stylish. I am recognised by the curl of my hair. And I am quite comfortable with the way I look. Also, I can't discount the factor that all my life I have been abroad. Hence, I carry those traits."

Bains talked primarily of his maiden release in India — Surma — an album which is being released by TIPS. Before he focused on the theme of the album, there was a short session of screening from the same. The main attraction of the song Husna di sarkar dilan nu lutde jave is former Gladrags supermodel John. The lead female in this album is straight from foreign.

Said Jazzy, "I was quite particular on roping the foreign talent. I wanted that the album should feature a lot of foreign artistes. Hence, the girl. Even the music director of my album is based in London. The videos have been done by Kookie Gulati."

Coming to the album, it is more of a play of sorts than a music album. More attention has been paid to dance sequences featuring semi-nude girls, than to the rhythm which is the soul of the song. Jazzy, however, defends the arrangement, saying, "We have only tried to provide something which the masses want. This is the kind of stuff which sells. And I also think that the music by Sukhshinder Sinda is original."

Reacting to the remarks that his music is far from the roots, he said, "Through the first album, I just want to enter the world of Punjabi pop in India. In my next work, I will focus on traditional notes which will touch upon the real folk."

Jazzy also talked of his passion as an actor and said that he had been offered a role in Raj Babbar's project Shaheed Udham Singh but which he could not do. As for music, he has no formal training in the same. "Though I have learnt from some people like Kuldipji, but I have never really been an all-time follower of anybody. Largely, I have learnt on my own."

And his kind of music has been fairly successful abroad. That is the reason he is back in the land of his birth "in search of his moorings", as he puts it. "I want to stay put and contribute a lot to the field of music. Although I know there are many people who are better than me, I am sure that I will carve a place for myself," he said.