NEW DELHI: In a unique education initiative in NOIDA, HCL Foundation under the My School Project, organised Aarambh, a week-long ‘welcome’ event for the students of 10 Government Schools as they commenced a new academic session. As part of this week-long festivity, various art & craft, music, dance and sports activities were organized across the schools by the HCL volunteers.
A culmination event was also organized at Government Primary School, Kakrala. Pravesh Yadav, Basic Shiksha Adhikari, Deepika Singh, Principal, Government Primary School, Kakrala, Gaurav Mani, Senior Delivery Manager, HCL (FedEx Team); Latha B, Senior Delivery Manager, HCL (Rogers Team) and K.C. Pant, Director, Raasta were the Special Guests for the event. They felicitated the winners of the various events by giving out certificates and prizes to the students.
The students from Government Primary School, Kakrala and Government Primary School, Kulsera who were trained by the HCL Volunteers also got an opportunity to showcase their talent on the stage. HCL Foundation also gifted the school’s Principal, sports equipment, stationery items and books for setting up a library at the school.
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“Initiatives like Aarambh gives students an opportunity to acquire new skills through interactive means and build affinity towards learning. We feel that these measures will help Government schools in increasing attendance records by encouraging students to attend school regularly,” HCL spokesperson.
To address low-attendance in schools, some volunteers also made visits to the community. They initiated a dialogue with residents to spread awareness about the event and to motivate parents to send their children to school.
“Aarambh was an engaging experience for us. I learnt origami and made a flower with help from the HCL volunteer. We loved the fact they visited us and would want them to come often,” said Afreen, a student from the school in Kakrala.
“I never knew what clay was, but HCL volunteers introduced us to many new things. I learnt a new nursery rhyme today and I am looking forward to their visit again”, said Shaukeen, another student from the school.
“It has been amazing to see these children so determined and focused. They are eager to learn and take part in the extra-curricular activities as a part of HCL Foundation’s My School Initiative. This exposure will certainly help in improving the attendance and enrolment in schools. As volunteers, we need to ensure that we provide continuous support for such activities”, says Tanmay Bali, an HCL Volunteer at Government Primary School, Kulsera.
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The school administration, Principal and teachers were also very excited about the possibilities that would open up through this collaborative effort. “We are happy that innovative events like Aarambh are being conceptualized. It is not easy for us to provide all facilities to students under the challenging circumstances in which we work but with help from HCL Foundation, who themselves came forward to support us. We were able to create opportunities for our children to learn something new” said Veena, a teacher at Government Primary School, Kakrala.
HCL Foundation, recently partnered with 30 government schools in NOIDA with the objective of enabling quality transformation and improving the enrolment, attendance and learning outcomes of students in these schools.
The core focus areas of intervention in schools include strengthening the physical infrastructure and facilities; making the classroom processes more dynamic and interactive; strengthening the leadership and management of schools through capacity building initiatives and ensuring effective engagement with the neighbouring communities.
HCL volunteers play a key role in enabling the process of quality transformation and regularly visit schools to conduct various life skill, remedial and extracurricular sessions for the students.
