Mahadevi Birla World Academy hosts first offline event in two years

Pre-primary and primary school children returned to Mahadevi Birla World Academy on February 22 with a cultural programme to mark Bhasha Divas.

Students of Kindergarten, Class I and Class II, each accompanied by a parent, visited the school to take part in the programme. Around 80 people were seated in a hall with a capacity of 600 to maintain distancing norms.

Each class had been assigned a topic and the students were dressed in keeping with the theme. Kindergarten students were assigned the topic fruits and flowers, Class I was assigned animals and birds and Class II was assigned hasya kavita or humorous poems.

Teachers had helped the students prepare for the event over video calls. Parents helped the young ones dress up for the event.

The offline event not only gave the students a chance to step into school, but also helped the school authorities plan the gradual shift to offline classes for the younger students.

“Students have been participating in a variety of online events for the past two years but they have visual aids when doing it from home. When they performed on stage, we were pleasantly surprised to see that they recited long poems with ease. They did not suffer from stage fright, they maintained eye contact and were quite confident. Many of the poems revolved around online classes, making them topical,” said Nupur Ghosh, vice-principal, Mahadevi Birla World Academy.

The children were constantly monitored to ensure that they adhered to COVID-safety norms. “It was a challenge to tell the children to keep their masks on. We spoke to the parents and suggested that they get the kids to wear masks at home for some time to help them get into the habit,” Ghosh said.

The school had earlier celebrated Hindi Bhasa Divas online with students of Classes III to V. Bengali Bhasa Divas will be held with students from Kindergarten to Class V in March.