EDUCATION

Topic of seminar beats students, teachers
Deepkamal Kaur

Ludhiana, July 15
Lack of adequate information on the future of aviation has caused a lot of hardship to all those preparing for a district science seminar. Students in many city schools and their teachers, too, find themselves in a difficult situation with not enough material available in libraries or the latest science journals. The National Council for Education, Research and Training (NCERT) has specially chosen the topic in the memory of Kalpana Chawla.

In the past, students had been asked to prepare themselves on simple topics such as pollution and environmental hazards. But this year’s topic on aviation is being viewed as tough. The topic, “Powered flight- a century of innovations and future of aviation”, has not even been understood by most teachers and, hence, they are unable to guide students. Though the District Science Supervisor had informed all the schools about the topic and the schedule of the seminar almost a month ago, the students are still finding themselves unprepared for the topic.

The difficulty in apprehending the topic is also having its effect on the participation of the students. The first tehsil-level contest for the affiliated, recognised, government, aided and private school students of Raikot subdivision was held at Dr Dwarkanath Girls’ High School, Raikot, yesterday. From the results of the contest, it was evident that the students had been having trouble with the topic.

Just nine students opted to participate. The students were first told to attempt a 10-mark written test in which two of the nine students flunked. Of the seven who finally participated in the seminar, five could not speak for more than two minutes even though the time limit was five to six minutes. As a result, five students got disqualified and the two girls who qualified were given the first and the second prizes.

Sumanpreet of SGG Vidya Mandir, Gondwal, stood first and Bhawna Jain from the host school got the second prize. The two students will now compete for the district-level contest to be held on July 30 at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Punjab Agricultural University.

Talking about the seminar, Ms Meena Jain, Headmistress of the host school, said the topic was too scientific and involved a lot of labour for students as well as teachers who guided them.

Corroborating her statement, Mr Ranjit Singh, Headmaster of Government High School, Salem Tabri, said he had been taking his students to the science seminars year after year but this time he, too, had to spend a lot of time in bying science books and journals as the subject was not available in general reference books. He, too, said that he did not remember the topic but it had something to do with aviation.

Mr Varinder Kumar Sharma, District Science Supervisor, admitted that students were indeed finding trouble in comprehending the topic and preparing the matter and audio-viusal aids pertaining to it. He, however, said that he had translated the topic in Hindi as well as Punjabi and sent it to all schools. Besides, the students were free to speak in any language.

Mr Sharma said the next contest would be held on July 16 in which Jagraon students would compete at Sanmati Vimal Jain Senior Secondary School. Contest for the students of Khanna subdivision would be held on July 18 at Acharya Atma Ram Jain Senior Secondary School, Khanna. Khalsa Girls High School of Doraha would host the contest for the students of Payal on July 21. For the students of Samrala, the contest would be held at the Government Senior Secondary School for Boys on July 23.

The contest for the Ludhiana-East students would be held on July 25 at the Ramgarhia Senior Secondary School for Boys, Millerganj, and Singh Sabha School, Model Town, would host the contest for the Ludhiana-West students. The district level contest would be held at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Punjab Agricultural University, on July 30.

Havan performed at SDP college
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, July 15
A havan was performed this morning at the SDP College for Women to invoke the blessings of God. The havan was attended by members of the management, staff and students.

The havan began with the chanting of Gayatri Mantra followed by other mantras. Ms S. Verma, Principal of the college, congratulated the toppers of the board and university examinations and urged the students to work with more devotion and dedication. Mr Balraj Bhasin, president, SDP Sabha and college management, sent his best wishes to both staff members and students.

The havan ended with an ‘aarti’ and prasad distribution.

Meanwhile, at the Master Tara Singh Memorial College for Women, a function was organised to pay tributes to Master Tara Singh as his birthday falls today. A bhog of sehaj path was held to invoke the blessings of the Almighty at the beginning of the new academic session.

The Principal of the college, Ms Madanjit Kaur Sahota, and students sang some shabads. Their melodious rendering of the shabads charmed the audience. The Dhadhi jatha of the college sang ‘vaar’ of Hari Singh Nalwa.

The president of the college management Mr Swaran Singh welcomed Mr Kirpal Singh Badungar, President, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, who had specially come to attend the function. Addressing the students, Mr Badungar said Master Tara Singh was a diamond of the Sikh community. He paid glowing tributes to him. He said the education system should offer more vocational courses. He condemned the increasing drug addiction among students. He condemned people who undermined the importance of girls and committed the heinous crime of female foeticide. He asked the girls to relate to religion to gain inner strength. He gave the college a sum of Rs 5 lakh.

A senior Akali leader, Mr Surjan Singh Tekhedar, also paid homage to Master Tara Singh and offered his best wishes at the inaugural session of the college.

Mr Amarjit Chawla, member, Punjab Public Service Commission, said he had heard a Principal and students doing kirtan together for the first time. He said the youth were forgetting their traditions and values and suitable measures would have to be adopted to stop this trend.

Ms Sahota, Principal of the college, thanked Mr Badungar and other guests.

Course on entrepreneurship introduced
Our Correspondent

Dr Vijay Asdhir, Head of the Department of Commerce, SCD Government College, delivers a lecture on entrepreneurship at BCM Arya Model Senior Secondary School, Ludhiana, on Tuesday. — A Tribune photograph

Seven singers for ‘Sur Milao’ contest
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, July 15
“Sur milao, kuch kar ke dikhao” was the name of a contest held yesterday at Red Cross Bhavan. Nearly 200 young men and women of the city had come for audition . Only seven talented singers made it to the last round. The singers selected were Pradeep Sharma, Jitender Singh, Amit Kumar, Bobby Bhatti and Munish. The two female singers selected were Namrata and Rashim. All these singers impressed the judge of the contest, the noted singer Ashok Chanchal. He said he had a tough time in selecting the seven finalists for the last round.

The anchors of the show were Nitin Pandya and Rajeev Vaidya. The seven selected singers and other singers from Delhi will participate in the finals to be held on July 16 in the open grounds of Puda at Dugri Road. The programme was organised by Gilby Green Label.