Aurangabad (Maharashtra): It is a strange and welcome sight in a particular village of this district every Saturday. Students of the government-run school at Malkapur village in the district do not bring schoolbags. In fact, they don’t ‘study’ at all.
This move gives them more energy for the rest of the week and their concentration in the classroom has improved, said their teachers. When heavy backpacks loaded with books and constant pressure are the order of the day, this indeed a great endeavour as it relaxes the minds of the students.
The primary school at Malkapur, run by the Aurangabad Zilla Parishad, introduced ‘No Schoolbag Saturdays’ last June. Malkapur, 28km from Aurangabad city is indeed a tiny village, with a population of 350. The school has 20 students on its rolls, 11 of them girls.
“After introducing this concept, we have seen students showing better concentration levels in class on other days. Their minds are fresh, their concentration level better and then are eager to learn,” said Sangeeta Talegaonkar, one of the two teachers the school has.
“We teach them handicraft, ask them to play games, and also draw on Saturdays. It is helping them to be stress-free. It gives them energy to study well on weekdays,” added the teacher.
Another initiative undertaken by the school is the ‘Our Word Bank’ project to improve students’ English vocabulary.
“Students are given five English words and their meaning in Marathi before going home. Next day they are asked to write the words on a piece of paper. It is deposited in a box, which is opened at the end of every month. The student who has learnt the maximum number of words gets a pat on the back and with it a small gift, may be a chocolate,” informed Talegaonkar.
Another initiative, ‘Ganit Samriddhi’, uses the farming background from which most students come to enhance their mathematical skills, said Savitri Kapse, the principal.
“We ask students to talk to their parents, ask what was the crop yield of family farm, how much money they got by selling the crop. The students frame sums based on this information on their own and find answers too,” said Kapse.
They are also learning gardening. The school has its own ‘Paras-baag’ (backyard vegetable patch) for growing veggies, where students work every Friday.
Rutuja Dok, a fourth standard student, said she loves the Saturdays at school now.
“I am learning English words every day. We look forward to every Saturday as there is no schoolbag. The day is full of fun,” she said.
Well certainly school is more enjoyable for Dok now. She is not under the constant pressure of homework and she enjoys learning at her own pace.
Certainly the Malkapur school programme can be implemented in other schools too. The mind of a child should blossom, not be burdened with excessive studies.
PNN & Agencies