The Birla Industrial and Technological Museum (BITM) campus offered school students an opportunity to express themselves through a relevant topic like “Corruption-Free India – For a Developed Nation. They took part in an elocution and poster-making contest to present their arguments on November 3.
The event was held as part of the Vigilance Awareness Week being observed by the museum, a unit of the National Council of Science Museums, Ministry of Culture, Government of India, between October 31 and November 6.
Welcoming the students and guardians, the museum director, Subhabrata Chaudhuri, said, “I am sure you are aware that this [BITM] is the oldest government-owned science museum of the country. Those who have been exposed to the museum’s environment have all flourished. A large number of scientists have been inspired following a visit to this haloed place. Today’s exercise is a part of nation-building as the future of the country lies in your hands. Hope you enjoy this experience.”
Schools like Delhi Public School, Newtown; Gospel Home School, Rishra; Khalsa Model Senior Secondary School; The Future Foundation School and others took part in the competitions.
Elocution
Around 20 students spoke on the topic and established their arguments on how India can transform itself into a corruption-free developed nation in the future. They also mentioned migrant workers, government aid, nepotism, access to basic needs, and a transparent system to present their case. They spoke in English and Bangla.
The judges were BK Kar, senior controller of administration (Retired), CSIR- Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata and SK Mishra, secretary, National Council of Science Museums, Kolkata.
Poster- making
Over 100 children were busy at the physics gallery in a bid to express themselves through their artworks. The poster-making competition was categorized for juniors (from Classes VI-VIII) and seniors (Classes IX – XII).
The competition was judged by Biswapati Maity, former professor, Government College of Art and Craft. Manikona, a Class VI student from Shri Shikshayatan School said, “I didn’t know the meaning of corruption and had to seek the help of the internet. Now, that I know what it means, I am using colours and shades to express myself.’’
All about science
A visit to BITM minus the fun in science is not possible. An interactive session to demonstrate the principles of light and floating balloons was presented to put the students at ease before the results were announced.
And the winners are…
Atiksha Pandey a Class IX student of DAV Public School stood first while Vandana Vivek of Class IX from Birla High School, Mukundapur, came second and Arna Majumder, Class XII from Baranagar Mohan Girls’ High School, was given the third prize.
For the junior category in poster-making, Suvechha Debnath from Lions Calcutta (Greater) Vidyamandir stood first; while Brahmishtha Dhara, from La Martiniere for Girls, came second and Apurba Debnath from Lions Calcutta (Greater) Vidyamandir, was adjudged third. The senior category winners all emerged from Delhi Public School, Ruby Park. While Himanshu Rai stood first, Anubhav Sanyal came second and Souratie Sengupta was third.
Himanshu Rai commented, “The first thing that comes to one’s mind when he/she talks about corruption is how the rich can influence the middle class and the poor so easily. I used ink and pencil shades to depict how the rich and powerful are controlling the system.’’