OdishaPlus Bureau
(Sunil Patnaik,Berhampur) It was a happiness therapy for the students of government-run schools across Ganjam district as the district administration launched a unique step by announcing a ‘No-Bag Day’ on Saturdays.
The students of Class I to Class V no longer has to lug their school bags on Saturdays, making their weekends more fun.
Collector Ganjam Vijay Amrit Kulange launched the programme at Putigopalpur UP School at Chatrapur on March 7 (Saturday). “It has been getting a positive response from students, parents and even teachers”, Collector said. When students are not going to carry their bags on Saturdays, we need to look at how best they can be kept engaged in schools. We should frame a special curriculum for Saturdays. Every Saturday, there should be some event which helps the child in his or her future, said Kulange.
District Education Officer (DEO) Ganjam Amulya Kumar Pradhan said the teachers have been asked to engage the children in playful learning modules during the day. The children are engaged in games, sports, yoga, painting, story-telling and other non-academic fun-filled activities on Saturdays. It is really a fun-filled learning activity. Students were so thrilled to take part in the activity. In fact, we are surprised to see the creative levels of young brains, he said. The pilot project is being implemented in at least 20 schools in each block, DEO said.
Sunita Das, a parent said, “My son Trilochan Das studies in class II and carries a school bag of around 1. 5 kg every day. We never encouraged our children to indulge in sports, said Sunita wife of a daily labourer. The Collector’s decision has been making us realise the importance of extracurricular activities which we never enjoyed in our childhood, she said.
Annapurna Behera Head Mistress Project UP School Narayanpur under Rangeilunda block said the teachers who have been teaching in traditional ways for long, have also welcome this new method. “We are trying to ensure that students take part in extra co-curricular activities, games and sports, recreation, and make the school a more joyful place for learning on all working Saturdays”, she said.
“We are now happy, confident and self-aware”, said Santoshi Muli and L Kaveri Reddy both studying in Class IV and Priya Das studying in Class III in Project UP School Narayanpur.
Though Ganjam is the first district in Odisha to come up with such an initiative, several states including Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Manipur and others have already launched this programme.