When Ayush Nanda left for school this past Saturday, he travelled light. Without his schoolbag.

The Class IV boy, a student of Putigopalpur Upper Primary School in Odisha’s Ganjam district, had a spring in his steps too — there were no classes that day.

The Ganjam district administration has come up with a No Bag Day plan for every Saturday as part of a strategy to encourage students not to miss school, among other targets.

No classwork does not, however, mean all play. The students would get to take part in drills, do yoga, write slogans and practise extempore speeches as part of efforts that would focus on developing a child’s overall personality.

School headmistress N. Rajeswari Reddy said the district administration’s decision to observe Saturday as No Bag Day would help check the absentee rate.

“We have only 108 students from Class I to Class V but nearly one-fourth of the students remain absent (every day) citing different reasons. Hope the new initiative to engage the students in extracurricular activities will encourage them to come to school every day.”

Classes are held from Monday to Saturday but students often skip school on Saturday, making it two holidays a week.

P Subhangini Sourced by Correspondent

Ayush, 10, has, however, made up his mind. No more skipping Saturday classes. “I do well in Odia literature. But there is a lot of pressure on me to do good in mathematics and English. I skipped class (to study at home). Now I will get a chance to play and take part in other activities except studies. I will not skip classes any more,” Ayush, son of a bike garage owner, told The Telegraph.

Ayush has also often helped his father in his garage on holidays.

It was district collector Vijay Amruta Kulange who came up with the No Bag Day plan that kicked off on March 7. “They (the students) will be given a day off from textbooks. Our focus is learning in a joyful environment. Learning through co-curricular activities throughout the day will be our motto. On Saturdays, we will stress on physical, mental and intellectual development of students,” Kulange told this newspaper.

“We will make them health conscious and (aware of) moral values and social skills.”

Kulange said the kids would be made aware of witchcraft and other social evils.

“We will educate them on how to develop logical thinking. We will emphasis on how children can be able to think and express their thoughts,” the collector said.

The scheme will be taken up on a pilot basis from Class I to Class V.

Headmistress N Rajeshwari Reddy Sourced by Correspondent

The district administration has prepared a course chart on what the children should be taught on Saturdays.

“According to the curriculum, the first period will focus on mass drill and yoga. The second period will focus on health and sanitation… mass cleaning of school with active participation of teachers…. We will educate the children on no use of plastic, use of toilets and on plantation,” Ganjam district education officer Amulya Kumar Pradhan said.

The third period will focus on moral and value education. In this period, school authorities will organise competitions on slogan-writing, poetry-writing and recitation and extempore speeches.

The fourth period will stress on story-telling and sharing of experiences.

The fifth period will focus on educating girl children and the sixth on art and craft, among other creative pursuits.

“In private schools, there is an emphasis on better parent-teacher relationship. Here we lack it. Now our focus will also be on that on Saturday,” Pradhan said.

The education officer said the No Bag Day project would be introduced in 20 schools in each block of the district and later extended to other schools of the district.