To provide relief to students from the burden of carrying text-books and to promote them to take part in activity-based learning, the Department of Public Instruction has proposed ‘No-bag-day’ on every Saturday across all the schools in the district.
P.S. Machado, Deputy Director of Department of Public Instruction, told The Hindu that the headmasters of all 2,218 schools in the district, including government, private aided and unaided schools have been apprised of the objective behind ‘No-bag-day’. The Block Education Officers have also issued directions to all the schools in this regard. From August 11, the students from first to tenth standard pursuing education at government and private schools in the district will attend school without bags every Saturday, he said.
The department has prepared a list of the activities that can be held in schools on Saturdays after consulting academicians and child psychiatrists. To promote creativity among the students and making learning a joyous experience, sessions on theatre would be held on Saturday. The students would be motivated to practice and stage a drama based on the short story or poem prescribed in the curriculum. The other activities planned include laboratory experiments related to their science syllabus, rangoli based on science drawings, and readings sessions at the school library.
With the objective to improve the oratory skills of the students and create political awareness among them, a mock Parliament session would be held. Training sessions on classical dance, aerobics, yoga, and martial arts are also planned, he said.
Mr. Machado said that the objective behind the entire exercise is to ensure that learning does not remain textbook-centered. By breaking the formal learning pattern, the students would be motivated to think beyond the textbook. The activities planned on Saturdays are consistent with the guidelines of the National Curriculum Framework, he said.
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