A novel pilot project named ‘No bag day’ was introduced for the first time in Odisha on Saturday by Ganjam district administration to make studies for primary school students more fun.
Primary school students of around 452 schools of Ganjam district did not carry heavy bags or study materials to school on Saturday and they will repeat the same on every Saturday from now. ‘No bag day’ project has been introduced in selected primary and upper primary schools. It is an effort to reduce children’s stress as well as to encourage them to perform co-curricular activities in a creative and comfort zone.
In the first phase, the project was started in 20 primary and upper primary schools of each of 22 blocks of the district as well as a dozen schools in Berhampur. It will later be extended to other primary and upper primary schools. Ganjam District Collector Vijay Amruta Kulange formally inaugurated this project at a Putigopalpur school in Chhatrapur block.
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Mr. Kulange said that the aim was to take school education beyond “chalk and talk”.
Under this project, the school timing has not been altered.
The first period on Saturdays for these students was physical education in the form of yoga and mass drill. Second period has been earmarked for health and sanitation awareness through competitions, general knowledge sessions, plantations, toilet training etc. In the third period, children learnt moral and value education through story-telling, book-reading, creative writing and debate sessions. Effort to eradicate superstitions and myths by interactive sessions was the motto of fourth period.
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The basics of women’s empowerment was the theme of the fifth period to promote education of girls, stop child marriages and create awareness about women-friendly projects of the government and administration. The last period has been named the ‘zero period’ during which the students performed art and craft, rangoli, model construction, logical thinking etc.