VEENA SANGAR, VP of DPS Sushant lok, talks to SANGEETA YADAV about how student exchange programmes help students to be more adaptable, tolerant and broaden their horizon
Your school has been encouraging a lot of students to turn writers…
last year, we came up with a collection of stories which was written by our students for creative writing programme. Of late, Manvi Handa, a Class IX student has launched her novel title let Me By Your Side which is about a teenager’s take on friendship, infatuation, jealousy and love. Our students also participate in Science Olympiads Foundation. We expose our students to a variety of extra-curricular activities so that they can identify where their interest lies and help them pursue it.
The school also doing student exchange programmes...
We started this in 2010 with a school from Germany and currently we have the exchange programme running with Germany and France. Every year, a new lot of students come with their teachers to DPS Sushant lok and get a chance to stay with Indian students at their home and experience our way of living. They study together in the classroom and work on various projects. This way both international and Indian students get to learn.
What kind of projects do these children doIJ
Apart from cultural related activities where students are taught traditional dance etc, we teach them about Vedic Maths which is meant to increase your calculation speed and requires a lot of practice. This practise is taught in the coaching institutes where students are prepared for entrance exams like engineering, and many others.
How does this help the studentsIJ
The more we expose the students to diversity, the more tolerant and adaptable they will become. Our understanding about life and human relations broadens and they become more compassionate individuals. The acceptance of differences is very important. Students, who have come from other countries, have faced problems adjusting with the Indian students and are reserved and restricted to their own comfort zone, their culture and people. Before their visit, they should be informed about the culture and learn the language of that country. We’ve to orient our students that what is okay with us may not be okay with them in terms of food preferences, behaviours, etc.
How does the embassy help in thisIJ
We can’t do student exchange programme independently. We approach embassies with the idea of collaboration with the schools of their country or sometimes we get the schools on board and ask for the embassy to support the two-week programme. The embassy ensures that there is educational compliant to the visit. After the programme gets over, we send them a CD of the activities and projects done by the foreign students. Similarly, we send our children to other countries like Japan for Indo-Japan cultural summit, a US visit to NASA, etc.
What’s in the pipelineIJ
We are expanding our exchange programmes to Belgium and Finland and working out on a trip to Australia which is not be an exchange programme but falls under the umbrella of international dimension to education for which we have been acknowledged with British Council ISA award.