Chennai: From children’s films to science experiments and quiz programmes, as many as 21.4lakh students of govt, aided and corporation schools were exposed to a diverse set of activities this academic year besides regular classes, all thanks to school-level clubs promoting co-curricular activities.Mainly categorized into literary, quizzing, children’s films, and science clubs, students are encouraged to join any of the activities at the start of an academic year. School education dept officials said the participants were about two lakh more than last year’s. The aim was to expose students to a world beyond textbooks. “At the school head’s discretion, a period or a specific time is allocated for club activities, which are held every week. Besides, funded by the pollution control board, eco-clubs are also set up in schools to create awareness of green environment in children,” director of school education S Kannappan told TOI.
At the school level, a teacher-coordinator is appointed for each club. Contests are held at school, district, zonal, and state levels for each club, and students are felicitated. For science clubs alone, resource personnel are sourced from NGOs and CSR wings of private firms to provide students with the equipment for science experiments and guide them.“While the activities were under way for the last three academic years, last year it was followed more actively after the govt released a detailed circular. Activities are also held during free periods to keep students sharp and engaged. Short films with a message for children are screened during club activities,” Ravi Kasim, HM of a govt school in Pallavaram, said.Teachers say the club activities boosted morale and confidence. “It also inculcated an interest in the subject in children. One of my students got curious about optics after creating a periscope to determine refraction of light. Students also develop an interest in maths, as the resource persons bring in innovative ways to teach,” said Sasikala, HM, Chennai middle school, Royapuram.This academic year, as many as 912 students qualified for state-level contests in the literary clubs, 454 in quiz clubs, and 114 for science clubs.
