The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

EDUCATION

Richa tops Class X exam in Ludhiana
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, June 28
The results of Class X examination conducted by the PSEB were declared today. As many as 248 students were placed in the merit list. Twentyeight students of Ludhiana District found place in the merit list. Richa of RS Model Senior Secondary School , Ludhiana, is the topper in the city securing 6th rank.

Bhupinder Singh of Desh Bhagat School , Sohian, secured 11th rank whereas Amrit Singh of Nankana Sahib Public School , Rampal, got 12th rank. Ravinder Kaur of Nankana Sahib Public School , Budhewal got 13th rank.Prabhjot Kaur of Guru Nanak Senior Secondary School, Janta Nagar, Ludhiana, shared the rank with Prabhjot Kaur.

Sukhwant Kaur of Nankana Sahib Public School was placed at 14th rank. Kulwinder Kaur of New Punjab Public Senior Secondary School , Hambaran, Ludhiana, was placed at 15th rank. Rishi of RS Model SS School obtained 18th rank while 19th rank was shared by Navjot Kaur of Govt Senior Secondary School, Kotla and Ramandeep Kaur of Anand Ishwar Public Senior Secondary School . Two more students shared 19th rank . They are Surbhi of Bhartiya Vidya Mandir, Udham Singh Nagar and Neha Kaushal of Nankana Sahib Senior Secondary School, Kot Gangu Rai.

Darshan Preet of Shakti Senior Secondary School, Machiwara, obtained 20th rank and so was Suman Preet of SGG Public School , Gadhewal. Sughanda Ralhan of BVM School , Udham Singh Nagar, was placed at 21st rank. Harpreet Kaur of Guru Nanak Senior Secondary School, Janta Nagar, Ludhiana, also obtained 21st rank. Munish Gupta of New Punjab Senior Secondary School, Hambaran, Ludhiana, was placed at 22 rank and 23rd rank was obtained by Harman Preet Kaur of Desh Bhagat High School, Sohiyana. Akaldeep was at 25th rank.The student is from GTB National Public School, Dhaka. InderDeep Kaur of Nankana Sahib Public School , Kot Ganguwal, bagged 25th rank.

Baljinder who got 26th rank is from Shalimar Model High School, Guru Amrit Colony, Ludhiana. Gurdreep Kaur of Poop Chand Jain School, Jagraon, obtained 26th rank. The rest of students shared 27th rank. These are Narinder Kaur of Govt Model Senior Secondary School, Amandeep Kaur Sekhon of Govt Girls Secondary School, Mansuran, Vijay kumar of Anglo Sanskrit Senior Secondary School, Khanna, Ishu Madaan of Atam Public School, Ludhiana, Pooja of Jain Public Senior Secondary School, Benjamin Road, Ludhiana, and Aditi Sharma of RS Model School, Ludhiana.

In a telephonic talk with Richa , the topper, she said she was extremely happy with her result. Her parents and teachers had been her guiding lights. She said Principal Mohan Lal Kalra always built the confidence of the students and his attitude was encouraging. Hence she would contiue her studies in the same school, she added.

She loves mathematics and sciences and will take up non- medical stream. She wishes to be a PCS officer. But she is not a book worm as she loves to play basket ball, she said.

She says the secret of her success is time management and when you play , play with full vigour and when you study , study with all its intensity.

Poor showing by students in English
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, June 28
“The results of BA (III) and BA (II) are out and what has shocked both the teaching fraternity and students is the mass failure of the latter in English,” according to Prof Lakhwinder Singh Bedi, a senior teacher of English, at GGN Khalsa College, Ludhiana. He is also Member, Undergraduate Board of English, Panjab University. He says, "the total number of students who appeared in BA (III) was 25,000. Out of these , 17, 600 have passed. Sixty five per cent students out of 5000 students who got it compartment got it in English”

“The main reason for the mass failure in English is that in spite of many recommendations made by the Board to make two papers in English, the university has turned a deaf year to their requests. Since English and Punjabi are compulsory subjects, these should be treated on a par. There are two papers in Punjabi, moreover, Punjabi gets 12 periods, while English only gets six periods. Are six periods sufficient to teach grammar, composition, and text specially when the students joining college are very poorly equipped to handle English? "Some schools start teaching of English from Class 6 only. No wonder then that the drop out rate after BA (I) is humungous as 50 percent failing to cope with English. The parents are further burdened as they have to send their children for tuitions, “ said Prof Bedi.

Prof KPS Sodhi with 35 years of teaching experience English, and also member of the Board seconded Prof Bedi, as he, too, said that he had made countless appeals to the Board to start two papers of English. Students have more chances of getting through if two question papers are set. Moreover most of the colleges employ teachers on an ad-hoc basis, as this helps them save money. Sometimes, the teachers do not even fulfil the terms and conditions set up by University Grants Commission when teachers also feel that they are not getting adequate salaries , why should they work hard? Ad hocism definitely brings down the quality of teaching.”

Prof SS Pannu of GN College , Moga, and Prof Balraj Thapar of the GGDSD , say that the English courses have been re-developed and re-defined. Although the syllabus has been made more student-friendly, yet it has been seen that the students cannot cope. The only answer is that to give advantage to students, two papers in English for BA classes should be set up. otherwise, a large number of students would continue to fail in English. Moreover , it is very difficult to teach 70 to 80 students in one class.

Shelly Jain tops city in BA II exam
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, June 28
The BA II results were declared yesterday. The city topper is Shelly Jain of the Government College for Women and the second position has gone to Sonia Goyal of the same college. Shelly scored 1,373 marks out of 1,600, while Sonia secured 1,299 marks. The third in row was Jeewan Jyoti of Guru Nanak Girls College, Model Town. She scored 1,267 marks.

The college-wise results are as follows: SDP College — Shilpi Jain, 1228; Sheena, 1198; and Parveen, 1184. Guru Nanak Girls College, Model Town — Jeevan Jyoti, 1267; Sukhjeet, 1162; and Pavanjeet, 1158. Guru Nanak Women’s College, Gujjarkhan Campus — Inderpreet 1171; Namta Singla, 1140; and Ritu Bala, 1121.

KCW College — Rajni, 1266; Malima Sethi, 1265; and Saloni Jain, 1215.

Master Tara Singh College — Komal Sharma, 1190; Jasbir, 1176; and Rajni, 1157. GCW — Shelly Jain, 1373; Sonia Goyal, 1299; and Amarjit Singh, 1251.

Government College for Boys —Vishal Kumar, 999; Vaneet, 959; Rohit, 946.

GCW for Boys (evening classes) — Taranjt, 1107; Beant Singh, 1069; and Deepak, 1035. Ramgarhia Girls College — Vivek Dhingra, 1258; Monika, 1227; and Priya, 1192. Kamla Lohtia College — Deepak, 999; Rahul, 984; Deepak Jain and Digambhar, 965. Arya College for Boys — Varun Sharma, 1148; Rohit, 1144; and Barun, 1113. Arya College for Women — Seema Bhardwaj, 1184; Sheetal, 1147; and Nilima, 1107.

Summer camp ends with fanfare
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, June 28
An art and craft exhibition was organised by the Child Development Centre here yesterday in which handiwork created by students was put on display. The exhibition was held as part of a valedictory function to end a month-long summer camp for children. Ninty students participated in activities like art, craft, painting, spoken English, personality development, roller-skating, dance and music. Special classes on keyboard were also conducted.

Mr Surinder, former president of Rotary Club (Mid Town), was the chief guest and he inaugurated the exhibition. He talked about the importance of summer camps and the need for learning creative skills.

A large number of students participated in group and solo dances. Students also presented drama, skits and rhymes and declamation contest.

A play area and mini-swimming pool for kids was inaugurated by Mr Bhupinder Singh Sethi, an industrialist.

Children compered the show and prizes to outstanding students were given by Mr Mohindra.

Valedictory function: City Blossom Kids Club, a unit of Little Blossom Nursery School, organised a valedictory function at the end of a summer camp here today. Students organised a colourful cultural programme comprising songs, skits, solo and group songs and choreography. An exhibition of art, craft and painting was also organised on the occasion. Ms Koachar, Principal of the school, said the aim was to develop the latent talent of the students.

Dr D.S. Khangura, winner of Mother Teresa Award, was the chief guest. He said such camps made children got opportunity to learn new things. The Director, Mr R.P. Singh, distributed prizes among students.

From Colleges & Schools
GNIMT students excel in BCA exam
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, June 28
Students of the Guru Nanak Institute of Management and Technology (GNIMT), Gujarkhan Campus, Model Town, have once again exhibited their supremacy in attaining meritorious positions in the BCA final semester examination held in May, 2004, results of which were declared by the PTU today. The institute attained 100 per cent result and all but on of the 75 students scored above 70 per cent marks (Honours). Nine students scored more than 85 per cent marks.

While Amritpal Kaur stood first securing 92.42 per cent marks, Aditi Malhotra and Ruma Mehta secured second positions with 87.43 per cent marks and Seema Rani got the third position with 87.29 per cent marks. Dr A.S. Bansal, Director, GNIMT, congratulated the students for their achievements.

MCA results: The students of Guru Nanak Institute of Management and Technology, Gujarkhan Campus, Model Town, Ludhiana, secured several positions in the merit list released by Punjab Technical Univeristy (PTU) for MCA-I semester examinations held in December 2003. Baldeep Kaur secured 86.6 per cent marks and got third position in the university. She was followed by Aneet Batra who secured eighth position in the university with 85.6 per cent marks. In MCA-II semester examination, held in December 2003, Monika Matta of GNIMT secured 89.4 per cent marks and got third position in the university. Nidhi Khosla of the GNIMT was ranked third in the university in MCA-V semester results and secured 88.4 per cent marks.

Cultural evening: A programme, “Children cultural evening”, is being organised by the Art Theatre at Punjabi Bhavan here on June 30 at 7.30 pm. According to a press note, the Director of the theatre, Mr H.S. Randhawa, said one-act plays “Rihee” (written by Shahid Nadim) and “Khedan” (written by Jagdish) will be staged besides other programmes like choreography, skits, group dance, solo dance, gidda and bhangra. The programmes have been prepared during the 69th Children Theatre Workshop conducted by the Art Theatre at Punjabi Bhavan from May 30 to June 30, 2004 under the direction of Mr Randhawa.

The function will be inaugurated by Mr Malkiat Chand Jangal and will be presided over by Dr Surjit Patter.

The programme is being presented in collaboration with the Punjabi Sahit Academy and the ESI Hospital Colony Welfare Association Ludhiana.

Fancy dress contest: Pearls Nursery School organised a fancy dress competition. The little ones were dressed in bright and colourful dresses like Karshima Kapoor, Barbie Doll and many more. The toddlers showed their talent in a very expressive and dynamic way.

Award eludes versatile artiste
Our Correspondent

Doraha, June 28
Seven years have passed since Sukhpal Singh Sekhon’s name was declared for the prestigious Shaheede Aazam Bhagat Singh Award, but he is yet to get the award. Sukhpal, who is a dancer, speaker, model, writer, actor and singer, was supposed to get the award in 1997. But he has got no intimation regarding the award till date.

Hailing from Malakpur village in the Bet area, Sukhpal has carved a niche for himself in the field of dramatics, oratory and modelling. It was only after matriculation that Sukhpal discovered his potential to excel in various fields. Initially, he joined the bhangra team of his college. In 1993-94, he was the Punjab winner in Bhangra at Kotkapura. He was awarded the college colours and the university colours for being the best folk dancer. He remained Bhangra champion for five consecutive years.

His success motivated him to diversify. Not satisfied with a single genre of art, Sukhpal tried to explore other hidden possibilities in him. He found that he was an impressive orator too. He got a good position in the Punjab State Declamation Contest held in 1994 apart from being the district winner in 1995. He discovered the “actor” in him and secured second university position in the drama “Hor Vi Utsi Marad Ka Chela” in 1994-95. He performed the lead role of Jakaria Khan on the occasion of tricentenary celebrations of Khalsa in his play “Gur Sangat Kini Khalsa.” Recently, he performed the lead role of “Dholan” in “Saavi,” a play directed by Nirmal Rishi, and won applause from many. Besides, he has given numerous stage performances.

Sukhpal also did modelling and gave his video performance in Punjabi songs.

Last but not the least, Sukhpal’s novel “Jaran” was released at Punjabi Bhavan in Ludhiana last week. At 26, Sukhpal has very innovatively and sensitively dealt with issues like drug-addiction, female foeticide and self-independence of the fairer sex. He initiated his efforts as a writer while he was preparing for “Saavi” in 2003. His maiden attempt in writing attracted the attention of many novelists, who praise his “dialogue-form” of delivery. His next novel is going to see the light of the day in a few months.

Sukhpal is also going to sing his own songs in the future. He has not given his songs to any singer as he wants to sing them on his own and in his own voice.