A three-day long orientation programme for the students of class XI was organised by N.K. Bagrodia Public School, Dwarka from 8 April 2019 to 10 April 2019. The objective of the extensive orientation programme was to mentor and guide the students in choosing their streams in class XI based on their aptitude and interest. To make the process of deciding and choosing the best stream for children, experts from various arenas and subject areas were invited on various days who guided children towards identifying the streams of their interest and aptitude.
Day1
The orientation programme on the first day commenced with the Vice Principal, Ms. Anjali Kharbanda, briefly addressing the students and explaining them the structure of the programme for three days. As soon as the two resource persons for the day- Ms. Tanu Atriwal and Mr. Suraj Prakash arrived, the Vice Principal madam invited them to kindle the ceremonial lamp and pay a floral tribute to the founder of the school, Shri N.K Bagrodia Ji.
The first session was taken by Ms. Tanu Atriwal, the subject expert for Biology. She discussed with students about the kind of rigor and bent of mind required for studying Biology at the senior secondary level and later on if students take it further. She spoke about the various entrances exams after XII for students opting Biology and the courses offered by the universities, both in India and abroad. Ms. Atriwal keenly cleared several misconceptions and assumptions people held about the medical stream, for instance, “Biology does not have much scope in India if one doesn’t want to be a doctor”. She emphasised on the need for hard work, rather than relying on luck if one wanted to do well in Biology as it is one of the demanding subjects in Science.
The next session was taken up by Mr. Suraj Prakash who discussed the relevance of Science, especially Physics, in the everyday lives of each person. He began by talking about basic everyday phenomena that go unreasoned by the majority, like the boiling of milk, floating of objects, falling on a slippery surface etc. That he said was because in India, we lack a culture of questioning and probing things further. By demonstrating several examples to the students, he emphasised on the importance of ‘staying on a question’. He said that because we do not question things and seek easy gratification of our curiosity, we fail to see the wonderful phenomenon called Science in our lives. Hence, subjects, like Physics and Chemistry appear difficult to us.
Mr. Suraj Prakash shared very simple and effective tips with the students to study Physics laying stress on the need to go to the basics. He noted that for a sound base in Physics, one must have conceptual clarity which can only be achieved if the children study things on their own assessing their own gaps in understanding. He shared the names of a few books and links with the students related to Science. He also entertained a few questions that the students put up after his session. The students seemed quite happy after this session as Mr. Suraj Prakash kept it really light.
The last session was taken by Mrs. Vandana Tandon, an NIE representative. Her insights into various career opportunities was liked by the students. They put forth various queries regarding the professions they wanted to take up in the future and she responded to each one of them with patience.
Day2
The programme started with a welcome speech by the Principal of school, Dr Rajee N Kumar, who addressed the students regarding the need to be oriented towards learning and the importance of discipline in one’s life. Through sharing several cases, she advised the students to use technology judiciously. Briefly sharing the rules of school, she asked the students to be regular in their studies from the beginning and seek teacher’s help.
After lighting of the lamp, the first guest for the day, Mr Balbir Singh took the session with the students sharing with them the scope and opportunities in the field of Commerce. Mr. Singh, being the former Head of the Department in one of the prestigious colleges in the University of Delhi, discussed about several subject combinations students could opt in school as well as in colleges in order to have the essential aptitude and proficiency for their desirable careers. He shared with the students about the jobs that will get created in the field of Commerce in the next five to ten years and the way the existing ones would change. He stressed on the need to have a positive approach towards the stream selection as each stream opens itself to a myriad of possibilities.
The last resource person for the day was Mr. Hari Om Gupta, the subject expert for Chemistry, who demonstrated several hands-on activities and experiments to the students to create an interest in them for Science. His experiments were not limited to the field of Chemistry, rather he demonstrated several experiments of Physics and Biology too. The aim was to present an aspect of Science that is exciting and relatable to all. The concepts of torque, centripetal force, frictions and refraction were demonstrated the use of simple, easily available and self-made equipments. Mr. Hari Om Gupta could stimulate the minds of the students to look at the multiple applications of Science in their real-lives.
Day 3
The third and the last day of the orientation programme was meant both for the students and their parents realizing the crucial role of parents in the lives of their children.
After kindling the ceremonial lamp, the Principal addressed the parents where she emphasised on the importance of monitoring what the children spend their time and energy on. Furthermore, she also requested the parents to follow up on the feedback shared by parents regarding their children.
The next session was taken by the Head Mistress of the school, Mrs Satinder Kaur, who spoke about the various ways in which parents could motivate their children to achieve higher goals in life and help them realize their own worth. She urged the parents to give time to children, listen to them and be genuinely interested in their lives. Among other things she also motivated the students to do a SWOT analysis in any given time and context to understand where exactly do they stand and what all they need to do to feel good about themselves.
Mr Ish Gera, the Director of Teachwell Institute, counselled the students about various opportunities that each subject choice would offer to the students. The last session was taken up by Mr Luck Pucchrat who guided students to manage one of the most pervasive problems that each student faces- stress. Through effective and easy tips, he motivated students to eliminate the sources of stress from their lives. The best among those tips was creating for oneself one’s own success criteria, i.e., when children do not compare their goals and achievements with that of others and understand their own uniqueness, they would not just remove stress from their lives but they would also be able to taste success in a way which makes them much happier and more contented.
The programme ended with brief feedback session a vote of thanks to the guest.
