On the occasion of birth anniversary of Father of Nation most of the private schools of State remained closed while the Government schools hosted many programmes aimed to instill the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi in the students. It raises an important question. Is Gandhi relevant for only children of Government schoolsIJ
In thousands of the Government schools of the State the students and teachers enthusiastically celebrated the Gandhi and Shastri Jayanti on October 2. The students took out Prabhat Pheris in the morning raising slogans in favour of non violence, truth and patriotism.
After this morning assemblies were held in the schools where the school heads informed them about the life of Mahatma Gandhi and values he stood for. National flags were hoisted in all the Government schools on the occasion. The Mid Day Meal too was specially prepared with most of the schools opting for Kheer and puri. This was followed by cultural programmes which consisted of plays, songs and dance sequences, all of which added the patriotic passion among the students.
One of a teacher working in remote school located in Kalsi block of the Dehradun said that school children were preparing the programmes of cultural event for last many days. “For Government schools the national days are the occasion of annual day of the school where some guest is invited and prizes are distributed to the students’ excelling performances in different fields,” she informed.
However most of the students studying in private schools were deprived of all these positive activities as they were in the comfort of their homes.
The President of Uttarakhand Parents Association, Neeraj Singhal said that it is unfortunate that the private schools are not celebrating the occasion which is one of a national day. He blamed the lax attitude of the education department officers for not enforcing these schools to respect the national festivals.
When contacted the President of Principal of Progressive Schools Association, Prem Kashyap claimed that most of the schools had celebrated the Gandhi Jayanti a day before in which the programmes highlighting the life and achievements of father of nation were held.
When asked to comment on closure of private schools on the national day the Education Minister of Uttarakhand Mantri Prasad Naithani said that Independence Day, Republic day and Gandhi Jayanti should be celebrated in all the schools. He said that he would look up in the matter.