Media Release

Panaji, Mar 18: “Give the child practical knowledge while they are being educated in schools. Through practical experience let the child explore knowledge,” said Hema Nayak, Sahitya Academy winner in Konkani, during the launching ceremony of Chalo School Mega Drive, an initiative of BMTGoa, a brand name of a non profitable public charitable trust.

This program was organized in association with the State Central Library, Panaji Goa.

“Chalo School – Mega Drive” is devised for all the high schools from the state of Goa. Parvatibai Chowgule College has taken this drive as a community outreach program during the golden jubilee year. This mega drive is being organized in association with Collector North Goa and South Goa, Department of Education in association with NSS and NCC units of selected higher secondary and colleges from Goa. Awareness program to promote the drive are being organized from the month of January 2013 onwards.

Professor Prajal Sakhardande while addressing the poets and the students said, “Each one of us has to try to become a important person in the society rather than becoming a ordinary face in the crowd. If the basic principles of cleanliness are followed by the students and citizens, then the entire garbage problem will be resolved.”

During first phase, motivational power point presentation was conducted for the trainee teachers from GVM’s College of Education – Ponda Goa, PE’s College of Education – Ponda Goa and Nirmala Institute of Education, Altinho Panaji Goa by the coordinator of the mega drive Dr Gunaji Desai for motivating 300 trainee teachers from the state of Goa.

Street play covering various social issues related with the day-to-day incidents happening around us were conducted in Marmugao, Ponda, Quepem, Canacona and Salcete Taluka by the students of Chowgule College. An All Goa street play competition was conducted on January 16, “Opinion Poll Day” wherein students of Carmel College were the winners and the students of Govt College Quepem were the runners up.

Under this program NCC / NSS volunteers from selected institutions will visit the high schools from where they have passed their secondary school certificate examination. During this visit they will hand over “Panchsheel” tips to be read during regular assembly being conducted in the school and collect the data. This data will be used to send weekly tips and useful information via emails and SMS alerts regarding the mails sent to the heads of the institutions and the in charge teachers. These tips are to be shared in all the high schools of entire state during the regular assembly. The vision is to disseminate similar information to students at one time. The information tips emailed in future are to be shared with the students during the regular assembly on 5th, 15th and 25th of every month. If holiday then on the next working day. All the heads are requested to fill the details in the proforma and hand it over to the concerned student on the same day.

Professor Vinod Joshua said one of the former teachers Principal Shirgurkar of Parvatibai Chowgule College started doing the things himself rather than telling the students to do the things. This gesture of the principal changed the mindset of the students and the desired change occurred in the college. I am very happy to know that the same college has taken up an initiative of BMTGoa, a public charitable trust which will be successful to achieve the target. We see it through the systematic ground work done by the organizers.

“This will facilitate and strengthen the gesture for successful implementation of this mega drive in the student’s community and will create awareness through the tips amongst the general public to conserve the environment, deteriorating values, waste management sense, traffic sense and inculcate a vision to look at the problem with a wider and holistic perspective by developing scientific temper. Hence the simple tips are to be shared with students during the assembly. Let entire school children from the state get same information at same time and on same days. Our main aim is to reach all the students studying in the schools of the state and through the students we aim to motivate their parents to participate in this mega drive. The parent has to listen to their child and hence we are confident that this Chalo School Mega Drive will definitely succeed,” said Dr Gunaji Desai, the coordinator of the Community Outreach Program.

Sangam Bhosle compered the program while Mansi Bandodkar, from State Central Library proposed the vote of thanks.