Cinema can be a powerful tool for education and can serve as a valuable supplement to traditional teaching methods. In an effort to ignite creative faculties of young children, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD)’s education department has come up with an innovative idea to screen inspirational films for its school children and set positive goals in their life and move forward. This comes after the civic body started an initiative in which an oath, on moral issues, will be administered every day.

For younger students of classes one to three, motivational cartoon films will also be screened to suit their interests and comprehension levels. For class four and five, motivational and inspirational movies will be screened.   The screening of movies will be followed by a brief discussion with students.

“The movies identified include ‘Chandu Champion’, Srikant Balla’s inspirational journey, ‘Guthali Laddu’, ‘I am Kalam’ and ‘12th Fail’. Besides this, other films can also be chosen according to the interest of the students which is inspirational and motivational,” MCD officials said.

In an order issued to all schools in charge, the MCD’s education department has asked to show motivational films to students class-wise using smart TVs or other audio-visual aids installed in their schools. The civic body has asked all teachers to help students understand the motivational message and moral values of the film so that students can imbibe that message and use it in their life journey.

“Hosting movie screenings in schools can help to engage students who may be struggling to stay focused or motivated in traditional classroom settings. Movies have the ability to captivate students’ attention and can provide a welcome break from the monotony of lectures and readings,” said officials.

Earlier, to boost a sense of responsibility, commitment, and unity, the MCD started a new initiative in which every day an oath will be administered on moral issues. In this sequence, the ‘Khelo India’ oath is being administered on Monday, in which the children pledge to make sports a part of their lives and join sports events to create a healthy India, and boost the morale of players.

On Tuesday, they will be administered an oath to dedicate themselves to maintain integrity, unity and security of the nation under national unity. On Wednesday , they will take an oath to boycott single use plastic. On Thursday they will take an oath regarding cleanliness, and donate two hours of shramdaan every week. On Friday they take an oath to believe in the principle of One Earth, One Family and One Future.

There are over 1,500 MCD schools in the state which cater to 8.76 lakh children. Of these, 342 schools run in double shifts. Of the total 1185 sites on which MCD runs its schools, 126 do not function out of pucca buildings, and around 200 need repairs.