Schools told to celebrate I-Day fortnight from Aug 9

MUMBAI: After asking schools to celebrate Yoga Day for a week in June, the ministry of human resource development (MHRD) has now asked them to celebrate India’s

MUMBAI: After asking schools to celebrate Yoga Day for a week in June, the ministry of human resource development (MHRD) has now asked them to celebrate India’s 70th Independence Day for a fortnight from August 9 to 23 with mass recitation of the national anthem on the last day.

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Schools said the celebrations will clash with their first unit tests and eat into their teaching hours.

In a recent circular to school education boards, the MHRD asked them to encourage private-aided and unaided schools to mark the fortnight as ‘Azadi 70 — Yaad Karo Kurbani’ instead of celebrating it only on August 15. “You are requested to…ask them to carry out as many activities in each school as possible,” read the circular uploaded on the Council for Indian School Certificate Examination portal on Tuesday. Schools also have to submit a report of their activities to the ministry.

The board must ensure that each primary/ upper primary/ elementary/ secondary school takes up at least one activity and each higher secondary school takes up at least two activities, said the circular. But mass singing of the national anthem at 11am on Tuesday, August 23, should apply to all schoolchildren in your state/UT, added the circular.

Other suggested activities are painting greeting cards for jawans, tree plantation drive and organise talks by people who can speak to students about the freedom movement of 1857 with focus on martyrs from the respective state. The competitions which schools could include in the celebrations can be a painting, elocution, freedom run, essay writing, plays, slogan writing and so on.

Schools said it is too much to celebrate the Independence Day for a fortnight in the middle of school exams. “Our unit tests start from August 12 so might not get everyone to participate in all the events,” said the principal of an ICSE school in south Mumbai.

Principals said that the celebration of such activities will leave them no time for school work. “The activities eat into our teaching time and since we are also starved for space pose an organisational problem,” said Avnita Bir, principal, RN Podar School, Santacruz.