CHENNAI: Have a knack for penning witty film reviews, bringing life to book characters on canvas, or bagging first place at a State-level 100-m dash? If you are a government school student and excel in any of these activities, chances are the school education department will ferry you to countries abroad at the end of the academic year.
According to a school education department official, this initiative aims to provide exposure to children, encourage extracurricular activities, and prepare students to pursue their goals. Funds will be sanctioned under the integrated school education programme.
This comes after the department announced in July that tours on world cinema would be arranged for children who write the best reflections on films screened in schools every month. Now, these trips are set to include students who produce the well-researched content from books or art. In order to encourage reading habits among students, schools were asked to hold a library period at least weekly once. Within this time, they must be encouraged to produce drawings, essays, or out-of-the-box art forms.
Three students from every government school across the State will participate in a block-level event and then, at the district level. Shortlisted students will take part in the State-level workshops, held once every term. Writers and activists will guide the students at the workshop.
A total of 25 students and a few teachers will then be taken abroad on the knowledge tour. The group would also include budding athletes who bag medals at Republic Day sports competitions. “This would include team games as well and the winning team will be taken on the tour,” said the official.
Meanwhile, another 25 students will be taken on an all-India tour to visit libraries.