The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

EDUCATION

Usha Sidhu is back as DEO
From Our Correspondent

LUDHIANA, Nov 20 — The month-long suspense surrounding the filling of the post of District Education Officer (Secondary) following the promotion and transfer of Ms Usha Sidhu ended today when as she took back the charge.

Ms Sidhu had been shifted to Chandigarh as Deputy Director (Schools) and Mr Bachitar Singh was appointed as the DEO in her place. He was still enjoying parties especially arranged for his welcome when he was served another notice for joining back at his earlier post of Deputy DEO.

Talking to Ludhiana Tribune today at a “Children’s Day” function organised by Nauhria Mal Jain Model Senior Secondary School where she was the chief guest, Ms Sidhu said owing to domestic problems, she felt that she would not be able to join the post at Chandigarh and as such she had decided to come back as DEO.

Denying all allegations that she used some political pressures to come back to the city, she said that it was probably the love of the Ludhainvis which brought her back to the city. She also said that there was no charm in joining in as Deputy Director as the grades of both the posts were the same.

The function was attended by Principals and Directors of over 12 aided schools of the city and all of them said some words in praise of Ms Sidhu. In his satirical remark, Mr Gurbachan Singh, Principal of Teja Singh Swatantra Public School, said that it was a unique situation as it was for the first time that he was welcoming a person after he or she sought a demotion.

The senior-section girls of the school sang a welcome song Suni jab unke aane ki aahat, garibkhana sajaya hamne. The same group of girls, in their school uniforms, also sang Suraj ek chanda ek and I love my India. Sumeet, a student of the same school, could not perform a dance item as the audio cassette could not be played at the right time. Obviously, the function had been organised in a jiffy in order to please and flatter the returning DEO under the pretext of celebrating the Children’s Day. It seemed as if the school students were made to wait for Ms Sidhu’s return before celebrating the day.

It may also be mentioned that when Mr Bachitar Singh took the charge as DEO on October 6 last, this was again the first school to invite him at a function. Commenting on the situation, a person attending the function remarked, “Kursi ki puja hai, baithne wala chahe jo bhi ho.”

Meanwhile, the members of the All India Sikh Students’ Federation, in a press note said that Ms Sidhu never wanted to be posted as Deputy Director and using her influence to come back and even got Mr Bachitar Singh demoted as deputy DEO to get her post back. They even pointed out that she knew that she would not be able to mint money in Chandigarh and that was probably one reason why she chose to get demotion instead.

PAU organises declamation contest
From Our Correspondent

LUDHIANA, Nov 20 — The youth unit of the Department of Extension Education, Punjab Agricultural University, today organised a district-level declamation contest at Government High School, Bhagana.

Dr G.S. Momi, Professor and Head, Department of Extension Education, while inaugurating the contest, said rural youth should develop head, hand, heart and health as per the philosophy envisaged in the 4-H programme of the USA. He emphasised that they should realise the dignity of labour and devote themselves to practical work.

Dr G.S. Saini, Professor of Extension Education and Coordinator of the youth programme, PAU, pointed out that the programme was started to bridge the gap between urban and rural life. Although the programme helped in the development of desirable values among the rural youth and creating self-employment opportunities, concerted efforts were needed to train rural youth in Information Technology, computer science and related jobs, he added.

Over 20 students spoke on the topics like creating awareness regarding health care, environment pollution — a challenge to humanity, educational problems of students and role of youth in controlling social evils. Gurjeet Kaur of Government High School, Bhagana, was declared first and Baban Thakur of Government Senior Secondary School, Phagwara, was second, Himmatdeep Singh of Government High School, Bhagana, was third while Monika Arora of Jain Model School, Phagwara, got the consolation prize.

The winners were awarded certificates and prizes. In order to promote the interest of rural youth in such activities, the Lions Club, Rehana Jattan, Phagwara, also gave mementoes to the contestants. Mr Jagir Singh, Headmaster of the school, proposed the vote of thanks.

Books galore as library falls apart

The library of Government Model School must have seen better days. Presently, the floor is cracked, and the almirahs that store the books could do with some polishing. The most surprising thing noticed was that the chairs were tied with a thick chain. The principal, Joginder Kaur, State Awardee 1996, informed that both the students and teachers carried away chairs, hence, they were chained.

The librarian, Ms Kamla, informed that the library had 6,525 books. There were some reference books too. The library subscribes to three newspapers daily and gets only two magazines prescribed by the Punjab School Education Board.”

“Don’t you get any magazines for competitive exams and general knowledge?”

“We have to get sanction from the Board. The Board will inform us which magazines to buy. Sometimes, when the students request us to buy some magazine dealing with competitive examinations, we borrow from PTA funds but that is rarely done,” said the librarian.

The Principal explained “We have started a ‘vocational corner’. The Employment Exchange is giving us some books and pamphlets for the students of class X. These books will help them to choose their careers and also will help them decide which subject is to choose in Class XI and Class XII. The librarian will be in charge of this vocational corner.”

The library had been partitioned to make room for male staff. The librarian informed that earlier, there were only one or two male teachers, but now since the number has grown, and they have no staff room, so part of the library had been converted into a male staff room. We do feel a shortage of space. There were a few boys, Amandeep Singh, Gagandeep, Charan Kamal, Deepinder Singh, who were preparing for a science competition with the help of their science teacher, Ms Karanjit Kaur. They all said, “We find the books useful in preparing for contests. We come to the library daily to read newspapers and magazines.”

‘Catch them Young’ seems to be the motto of most schools. In all the schools, visited so far, the library period has become a must for every section right from class I. To smaller classes, the librarian choses a book and reads out a story. For the middle school and the high school students, a set of 15 books is kept aside and given them to read during the library period. Since there are 35 students, the students have to share the books.

“Do not they tear books while sharing?”

The principal replied laughing, “Sometimes, they do. It cannot be helped.”

Trainee teachers from Malwa Khalsa College for Education and a new college Partap College of Education, Hambran, take refuge in the library during their free periods when they go there for teaching practice. They, too, find the library quiet enough to draw chart and revise lessons.

The only thing the principal wants is a bigger place to store books as the strength of the students is about 700. She plans to hold book fairs in near future too. — AA