The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

EDUCATION

SCHOOL BUZZ
Tiny tots get on the friendship wagon amid fun and games
Smriti Kak

MOTHER'S Pride pre-nursery schoolers celebrated Friendship Day by exchanging friendship bands and taking a pledge for sharing and caring for their friends. The entire school was decorated for the special day as little ones gathered to celebrate the day in style. The Principal of Delhi Public School, International, Ms Rosetta Williams, who was visiting the school, also exchanged friendship bands with the children and said that celebration of such occasions served to inculcate human values in children.

The school Chairperson, Ms Sudha Gupta, said that true friendship implied helping each other achieve happiness and their true potential in life.

As for the kids, the movie channel, Hallmark, is currently wooing them. Hallmark is airing movies based on friendship exclusively for a week starting August 1. And on the D-day the channel had more fun and games apart from the usual contests for kids.

Investiture

The investiture ceremony in schools is an occasion for great pride. For those chosen by the school to shoulder the responsibility it is not just an honour which makes you stand a step ahead of your peers, but is also a reminder that you have duties to perform.

Amity International School, Manesar, witnessed a batch of responsible students taking the path to perform their duties to the best of their abilities. These newly appointed head boys and head girls and the house captains took oath and were blessed by the Chairperson, Dr Amita Chauhan. She congratulated the school, which saw its inaugural investiture ceremony for moving ahead with an unmistakable zeal.

The Dance Department provided the cultural backdrop as the girls performed a dance number, ‘Suswgatham’, composed by sitar maestro, Pandit Ravi Shankar.

Guru’s anniversary

GHPS kids celebrate Guru Harkrishan’s birth anniversary with fervour.

GHPS, Loni Road, celebrated the birth anniversary of Guru Harkrishan, the eighth Guru of the Sikhs. The school Principal, Mr Ghuman, in his address to the students urged them to adopt the teachings of the Guru. By narrating the incidents from the Guru’s life he enlightened the students about the selfless work done by him. He added that the Guru’s life was the best example of age being no bar in reaching the heights of greatness.

The students also visited a gurdwara and will participate in the weeklong celebrations organised to mark the anniversary.

Orientation workshop

Amity International, Saket, hosted a three-day workshop to orient teachers with the new syllabi in Business Studies and Accountancy. The programme, conducted under the aegis of the CBSE, had an overwhelming response from more than 76 schools, which sent a total of 102 delegates. The workshop, which was enormous in size and scope, was moderated by a host of luminaries and experts in the field of education and commerce.

Grand carnival

Learner’s Castle preparatory school, Hudson Lines, organised a grand carnival for children. The audience appreciated the performance by the kids. More than 1,000 children participated in the event, which included competitions like the healthy baby contest, active baby contest and fancy dress competition.

Giving away the prizes to the children, the school Director, Ms Tarjeet Bhasin, said events such as this helped children attain more confidence and brought out their talents.

Saplings planted

GHPS, Vasant Vihar, launched their fruit tree plantation programme on the school campus itself. Since July is conducive for planting saplings, students of the nature club complete with their trawlers and dressed in colourful aprons enthusiastically planted mango, peach, guava and china orange saplings.

The students were joined in their endeavour by the school Principal, Mr S S Minhas, and the Vice-Principal, Ms Ravinder Kaur.

An anti-litter drive was also carried out wherein a rolling trophy will be awarded to the cleanest segment in the school at the end of the year.

Fashion show

A model in the making

The Preet-Vihar based Children’s Valley School organised a fashion show titled “Blasting kids’ at the Capital’s Dilli Haat. The aim of the show was to instill confidence in the children and motivate them to accomplish greater heights. The funds raised from the event were contributed to the Orphan and Disabled Child Foundation, ‘Aashi’. The show was choreographed in four segments and three sequences of dance were added.

The Managing Director, Delhi Tourism, Mr Rajiv Talwar, was the chief guest and gave away the prizes.

(Input by Nalini Ranjan)

PrincipalSpeak

Work without ethics is like food without salt

FOOD without salt loses its flavour and taste. It becomes unpalatable and unappetising. You can only swallow it as a compulsion, not relish it. So also work without ‘morality’ is meaningless, hollow and fails to bring true fulfilment and happiness. Gandhiji had listed ‘work without ethics’ as one of the deadly sins.

If we want happiness for a lifetime, we must learn to love whatever work we do. This love is born out of the goodness we invest in it. Work brings with it a set of responsibilities towards others and oneself, which ask for fairness, compassion, courage, integrity, empathy, humility, loyalty and courtesy. These are essential, for we seek through our work not just wealth and fame, but self-esteem and inner peace. It is our values that enrich our work and make a winner.

Today, in an increasingly commercial world, the young talk about values as something obsolete. But universal values like truth, loyalty, commitment and magnanimity have stood the test of time. There is a lack of ethics evident in every profession. But we all know that when we cheat, we are cheating ourselves and weakening our position. If you use unfair means to succeed in your exams and come first in class, would you be able to hold your head high before your teachers and parents, who have reposed faith in your ability and honesty? Would your conscience permit it? You do know that you may have fooled them this once, but you certainly haven’t fooled yourself. Put on the anvil of truth, you would break! True success has its foundation in truth.

I recall a beautiful story about Reuben Gonzales. He was playing for the world title. In the final game at match point, Gonzales played a supershot to save point. He was declared the winner. But Gonzales, after a brief pause, turned back to shake his opponent’s hand and said, “That shot was faulty”. As a result, he lost the serve and eventually lost the match. His integrity, however, proclaimed him the true winner.

Truth is powerful and magically transforms your work. It is a step towards personal freedom. Your life will become transparent to others and to yourself. This wins loyalties of those with whom you work. And loyalties cannot be bought, they are earned by being loyal to our values. When you make your choices, consult your conscience, which always upholds your convictions. Be fair, work hard, do not steal someone else’s merit and claim it as yours. Acknowledge and appreciate others’ contributions. Remember, if they withdraw their help your work will collapse. Do not harbour grudges. If you forgive, you will be forgiven. This ‘give’ and ‘take’ enriches your work.

Your pride in performance is the realisation of a beautiful vision, give it the foundation of morality. Treat your workplace as a temple and your work as worship and the ultimate happiness is yours.

Madhu Chandra, Principal, Birla Vidya Niketan

Ignou offers to train primary schoolteachers
Our Correspondent

New Delhi, August 4
With the thrust now on universalisation of elementary education, the focus has shifted to the need for training the teachers at the primary school level.

With an aim to contribute to the cause of the universalisation of elementary education, the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has offered its expertise in training the untrained tutors in primary schools and helping in the organisation of in-service programmes for teachers. This was announced by the Vice-Chancellor, H P Dikshit, at a teleconference for addressing the planners and beneficiaries of the, ‘School Chalo Abhiyan’, (Go to School Campaign). Prof Dikshit added that the Universalisation of Elementary Education (UEE) had been on the agenda of successive governments at the Centre, but the governmental efforts have remained non-sufficient.

He pointed out that it has thus become imperative for NGOs and voluntary bodies to come forward and participate in making the scheme successful.

Inaugurating the teleconference organised by Ignou’s Electronic Media Production Centre (EPMC), he said several Centrally sponsored schemes, including the District Primary Education Programme (DPEP), had been designed and implemented for achieving the objective of the UEE. It was also brought to notice that Ignou had been helping the states by planning and introducing Distance Learning inputs in the DPEP for giving a fillip to enrolment, retention of children in primary schools and improvement in the quality of education.

Appreciating the efforts made by the Uttar Pradesh Government for launching the ‘School Chalo Abhiyan’, Prof. Dikshit said that the state government had shown tremendous success in the enrolment of school children and bringing them in the educational mainstream.

The Ignou vice-chancellor also offered the facility to Uttar Pradesh for conducting teleconferencing and radio broadcasts and said the University’s facilities would be made available to any other state, which was keen on availing them. The Director of Basic Education, Uttar Pradesh, Mr D C Kanojia, who was also present on the occasion elucidated the various components of the ‘School Chalo Abhiyan’ and exhorted the parents to be a little more liberal in sending their daughters to schools.