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Over 1 lakh ‘ambassadors of hope’ take part in online campaign in Punjab
Maximum entries were received from Ludhiana district (16,084), followed by Amritsar (13,862), Sangrur (10,741), Patiala (10,614) and Gurdaspur (7,030), Punjab education minister Vijay Inder Singla said while talking to media in Chandigarh.
The online video campaign ‘Ambassadors of Hope’ to engage students during the lockdown saw participation of 1.06 lakh schoolchildren from across Punjab over eight days, state education minister Vijay Inder Singla said on Wednesday.
Claiming that never before an online competition saw such a huge participation — wherein children made and shared videos of various activities — he said the government is in touch with the Guinness World Records for official recognition, he said.
Maximum entries were received from Ludhiana district (16,084), followed by Amritsar (13,862), Sangrur (10,741), Patiala (10,614) and Gurdaspur (7,030), the minister said while talking to media in Chandigarh.
Apart from these entries, the campaign also engaged around 2.5 crore people on social media platforms in eight days. He said the primary objective of this campaign was to engage students in a constructive activity in the “atmosphere of abject negativity”.
“It is heartening to see the response we have got from the children. Most of the entries are deep rooted in Punjabi ethos and culture,” said Singla. “While we will select few winners on merit in next 20 days, for me everyone is a winner.”
The minister said three winners from all 22 districts will be given prizes, which include laptops and tablets. Apart from this, 50 consolation prizes will also be given, he said.
‘Can’t say when schools will reopen’
Even as summer vacation in Punjab schools is set to officially get over on May 10, Singla said that he “can’t clearly give an answer” as to when schools would reopen for classroom teaching.
Punjab had in April advanced summer holidays both in private and government schools to cope up with study losses due to the lockdown.
“No one knows when normalcy will return. However, online classes can’t replace classroom teaching,” he said.
