Kolkata school activities shift to virtual platform

KOLKATA: City schools have gone beyond online classes, exams and school programmes. Enthused at the progress of teaching-learning for over six months, many have extended the virtual route to hold student council polls, inter-school meets, investiture ceremonies and the list is long. Many have explored new virtual platforms to make these initiatives successful.
Be it going through the elaborate process of nomination in students’ council elections, virtual group discussions, where each candidate puts forth his/her point and manifesto, campaigning videos and even swearing-in, every bit of the real feel was brought in. The same can be said for some of the inter-school meets, where even international schools participated.
Schools from Germany, Argentina and Russia participated in this year’s annual fest of Heritage School — Youthopia — that happened on September 12 and 13. There were 32 schools from across the country and the city that were part of the fest with events like poster making, dance and musical recitals, elocution, creative writing, chess competitions and fashion shows. There were guest performances by Sachet Tandon and Parampara Thakur on Instagram, while the school took to online platform — Discord — that brought in that real feel, said principal Seema Sapru. “We collaborated and spoke so much that we actually forgot the distance,” said Yash Kejriwal, prefect.
Not only six Loreto schools here but those from Delhi, Shimla, Shillong, Ranchi and Lucknow also participated in the inter-Loreto meet, Vibrant Hues 2020, hosted by Loreto Entally. This year’s theme was “artidote”, a take from the word antidote and the focus was art and creativity, said principal Jessica Gomes Surana.
The students’ council has been elected virtually and is in place in schools like DPS Ruby Park and DPS Howrah. “The entire process was done on Zoom,” said vice principal of DPS Ruby Park, Indrani Chattopadhyay. “Our IT department created an online voting portal where students cast their votes. We ensured that there is no compromise or dilution anywhere,” said principal Sunita Arora.
Even participation in the International School Awards (ISA), a widely acclaimed programme of the British Council among schools, happened online this time. Take the case of St Augustine’s Day School, Barrackpore, where the project ‘Ode to Loyalty’ has been successfully concluded as a part of ISA. “Students of the middle school learnt about the origin, history and meanings of the national anthems of South Africa, Bangladesh, UK and India. Students from a British school, Priory School, sang the Indian national anthem, for example,” explained Sharmila Chaudhuri, a teacher of the school.