Harry Potter idea floated by Manipur education minister for whizkids
GUWAHATI: A Manipur minister has decided to lend wings to children in reality like JK Rowling did through her stories of Harry Potter. While Potter has the flying broom, Manipur schoolchildren will get a chance to be on a real helicopter.
To ensure competitiveness among students and make them study hard, Manipur’s Education Minister Thokchom Radheshyam has come up with the unique idea of helicopter rides. Students excelling in extra-curricular activities such as debate, essay-writing competitions, etc will be selected for the 20-minute helicopter ride.
The fun-filled ride will also give the children an opportunity to explore and understand the state’s landscapes and landmarks.
“We are starting it as a pilot project covering only government schools across the state. People often criticise us saying that private schools are doing way better than government schools. However, most students in government schools are not from well-to-do families,” Radheshyam told this newspaper.
He said the government might consider extending it to private schools. Competitions will be held at zonal levels. An order has been already issued in this regard.
“We believe the chance to ride a helicopter will instill competitiveness among students and encourage them to study hard,” the minister said.
He said the government would spend a certain amount of money for the helicopter ride, the frequency of which would be decided following the experiment.
The minister added: “We were looking for something interesting to make children more creative. So, we organised an essay-writing competition on November 2 on Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016. The basic idea was to make the students aware of the bill’s contents. As most children had little knowledge, they had to do homework. This helped them to understand the issue better.”