Despite heavy rain, Patiala schools go ahead with telecast of PM’s speech
Though rain played a major spoilsport and disrupted all preparations for the Prime Minister’s speech, students listened to him on radio sets where there were technical issues with television sets and the Internet; rural schools struggle to find rhythm
PATIALA: Undeterred by heavy rainfall across Patiala district, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech on the occasion of Teacher’s Day was telecast live in all government and private schools.
Even though reports of power cuts and system crash due to heavy rains kept pouring in, schools left no stone unturned to follow the ‘diktat’ of the state and the Centre to make the one and a half hour speech a hit.
Radio sets were also used to air the PM’s speech. In schools, especially those in rural areas where cable television and Internet do not work effectively due to technical snarls, students were seen with radio sets. Many schools also made special arrangements for generator sets in case of power cuts.
Due to heavy rains and inundated playgrounds, schools had to accommodate large number of students indoors, such as in EDUSAT (educational satellite) rooms.
However, in order to make students comfortable after school hours, Gover nment Senior Secondary School, Roshanpura, held a screening of Hindi movie ‘Taare Zameen Par’, while few other schools tuned in to the India-England one-day match for entertainment for students.
Meanwhile, schools also made arrangements for lunch for students. District education officer Harinder Kaur said not only teachers, but students were also excited about the Prime Minister’s speech.
“Attendance was more as compared to other school days. Students were clapping at certain points and remarks made by the PM in his speech. Moreover, teachers put in a commendable effort to ensure its telecast in all schools,” said Kaur.
Jagjit Singh, a teacher at Government Elementary School,
ATTENDANCE WAS MORE AS COMPARED TO OTHER SCHOOL DAYS. STUDENTS WERE CLAPPING AT CERTAIN POINTS AND REMARKS MADE BY THE PRIME MINISTER IN HIS SPEECH
HARINDER KAUR, district educatioon officer
Manduar, said though it was a good initiative, half of the speech focused on advocating policies of the Centre and the PM’s own.
Another teacher Bhupinder Singh of Government Middle School, Bollar Kalan, said the PM’s speech was only studentcentric as he failed to interact with teachers. “It seemed to be a Children’s Day function rather than a Teacher’s Day one,” he added.