The inauguration of the project; (above) participants pose for the camera

After being a resounding success at the Center for Civic Education, Calabasas, California, a programme entitled Project Citizen was conducted in Calcutta recently.

The programme, held at Lakshmipat Singhania Academy (LSA), was inaugurated on March 23 and ended on March 28.

The purpose of the programme was to engage students in areas of public policy. Workshops were also conducted to train the teachers in the subject.

Anuradha N. Basu, a teacher of Mahadevi Birla Girls? Secondary High School and coordinator of the programme, spelt out the aims of the programme. ?We want our pupils to be more receptive, dutiful and analytical in their approach to society. At times, I think that children these days are a little insensitive to certain important issues. The target is to change that.?

The participating teachers spent much time discussing the actual definition of ?public policy?, as well as researching localised issues of public policy. They also aided the development of an action plan that would convert their suggestions to reality.

The 32 teachers who took part in the programme agreed that it was a beneficial scheme, though some concerns over the demographics of the project were raised by a few teachers.

Jayati Debnath, a teacher from BNV School, Barrackpore, pointed out ?the weak point? in the programme. ?Most teachers who took part in the project belong to schools with children from strong economic backgrounds. If the project is truly to be effective, the project must go to the villages. The programme will be limited until it reaches the masses,? she said. Debnath also felt that Project Citizen should involve all schools, and not just CBSE schools as it is now.

However, the general response to the programme was positive. Apurba Deb, a biology teacher of Kalyani Central Model School, said: ?I think that the programme in its entirety will help the students, even in basics such as cultivating good manners.?

Cetia Ardic, a Turkish teacher who has been attached to the Learnium School for the past seven months, explained: ?The experience has been valuable because it has brought together teachers from different areas. They need to refresh their knowledge from time to time. From a foreigner?s point of view, it has been very interesting as it has shown me the kind of problems that young India is facing today.?

Project Citizen came to fruition with presentations of two Class IX groups ? one which was concerned with road safety and associated issues and the other, an environmental group.

During her address, Lakshmipat principal Anjali Razdan said that ?such an exercise is a very useful way to share our thoughts and concerns not only about our immediate environment, but also that of society at large?.

Each student group was divided into four categories to explain about policy deliberation, explaining the problem, class policy, alternative policy and the action plan. A three-membered panel judged the presentations.

The presentations were punctuated by song and dance routines, including a homage to goddess Saraswati. At the end of the programme, Razdan presented certificates to all the participants, teachers and pupils.

Patrick Pringle

Fascinating fiction

A thought for a tale

The story-telling session at Landmark on Saturday.

Some 30-odd children gathered at Landmark to listen to readings from The Chronicles of Narnia on Saturday.

In the past, several efforts have been undertaken by various organisations to gift children of the city regular storytelling sessions, but few have managed to carry it beyond a point.

Gautam Jatia of Landmark, however, is optimistic about the story sessions he intends to host at least once every month. ?We also plan to start a full-fledged kids? club which will meet every week for different activities. Forms are available at our bookstore,? Jatia said.

Most of the young visitors on Saturday had, of course, seen the film. So, they relished the original text read out by Mira and Dulip Kakkar.

The husband and wife duo, who call themselves Storytellers, have done several such sessions at bookstores and other venues. Often, as in the latest instance, the choice of the text is left to the hosts. The duo had earlier done a Harry Potter reading as well.

?The narration is usually interspersed with doses of drama where costumes, masks, hand puppets (of which the couple have a large collection) and other props may be used,? said Mira Kakkar.

The next story-telling session will be on April 23. ?This time the focus will be on Indian folk tales and we hope to get more participation from the children. We will begin rehearsals a little early so that the children are able to do their own narration,? elaborated Kakkar.

The readings will target those below the age of 10. ?Older children prefer to read themselves, so this is aimed at drawing the younger ones away from the TV-homework-TV routine,? she added.

So why were similar efforts by other bookstores and centres of culture not continued on a regular basis?

Anjum Katyal of Seagull reasoned: ?Initially, the activities at the kids? sections of the bookstores attracted largish groups. But after a while, the guardians seemed to lose interest and then it was just the same small group of children returning again and again.?

Sebanti Sarkar

Fest focus

A play was staged as part of Sanskriti at the JU campus on March 28. It was followed by programmes of fusion and instrumental music. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

The students of Asansol Engineering College will organise the third edition of InfoQuest, in association with The Telegraph, on March 31 and April 1 on the campus.

The technical festival is a platform for encouraging innovative ideas and exhibiting them to a fraternity of like-minded people. InfoQuest was envisioned to inculcate scientific temperament among the youngsters and provide an atmosphere conducive to generation of new ideas. It also has a rich history in establishing a vibrant industry-institute interface.

InfoQuest started its journey with a relatively small group of academicians and students. The first-ever technical symposium of Asansol Engineering College was held in February 2004. It had a large conglomeration of IT specialists, key policy makers and industry leaders. The purpose was to arrive at a strategy that could harness the power of technology for business excellence.

This year, the students have introduced new events to try and reach out to more students and experts than before. In the past, the festival had attracted students and dignitaries from all across Bengal and Jharkhand.

InfoQuest 2006 will have paper and project presentations, programmes on robotics, programming competitions, workshops on hacking and embedded system and quizzes. Corporate bigwigs from West Bengal Renewable Energy Resource Development Authority, Steel Authority of India Limited, Central Mechanical Research Institute, Indian Institute of Technology (Kanpur) and many others will attend the various events. Ankit Fadia, a young network security analyst, will also interact with the students.

Coming up...

The following events will be held at Sanskriti 2006, organised in association with The Telegraph, on the JU campus.

March 30: Business quiz, 10 am; debate, at noon, general quiz, 12.30 pm; fusion instrumental, 2.30 pm, rangoli, 3 pm, antakshari and poster-painting, 4.30 pm; a mime performance, kobir larai, play Marich Sangbad in the evening.

March 31: Sports quiz, 10 am; extempore, at noon, western music, 12.30 pm; face-painting, 2 pm; hair styling, 3.30 pm; western dance and cartooning, 4 pm.