Schools must try to instill social, political awareness in kids: Tharoor

Focusing on the changing trends in school education, the National Progressive Schools’ Conference (NPSC), an umbrella body of private-unaided schools, organised its 39th annual conference on Friday. The theme of the event was ‘Effective Learning Communities — Exploring New Vistas’. Hema Rawat reports.

Focusing on the changing trends in school education, the National Progressive Schools’ Conference (NPSC), an umbrella body of private-unaided schools, organised its 39th annual conference on Friday. The theme of the event was ‘Effective Learning Communities — Exploring New Vistas’.

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Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor, who was the chief guest, said school education should aim at preparing well-formed minds rather than well-filled minds. “Schools should take care to inculcate political and social awareness in each child, so that they become concerned and responsible citizens of society,” he said.

He added that technology could be effectively used in academics to connect and learn from other communities. “Schools should encourage students stay in a constant mode of learning and explore new vistas,” said Tharoor.

Danseuse Geeta Chandran and Gauhar Raza, a senior scientist at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), delivered the keynote address.

Chandran spoke on how to demystify arts and dance to instill in students love for humanities.

Speaking on how to motivate students develop interest in classical and folk forms of dance, Chandran said, “It is imperative to present dance forms other than Bollywood in a manner, which is equally engaging and fun-filled. Schools can tap their in-house resources such as take the help of Hindi teachers to pen lyrical, interesting poems that can be a good substitute for any Bollywood number.”

She added that teachers should make students understand the importance of dance and its relevant aspects, rather than force them to stage performances.

The Lifetime Achievement Award was conferred upon two founder members of NPSC — Dr Rajini Kumar, chairperson, Springdales Education Society, and TR Gupta, secretary, DAV College Managing Committee.