At a time when letter writing has become almost obsolete, a school is celebrating its platinum jubilee by teaching students the art of writing a personal letter.
Over 12,000 students of South Point have been writing and posting letters, mostly to their parents, over the past few days.
The younger generation has rarely seen a letter, that too a personal one with a stamp, reach their homes, said a teacher. Official documents or bank papers via speedpost are all they see.
“Nobody writes a personal letter now. We wanted to give our children a taste of actual letter writing. They are taught letter writing as part of their curriculum but they have never actually written or received any,” said Rupa Sanyal Bhattacharjee, principal, South Point High School.
A commemorative stamp to mark 70 years of the institution was unveiled in the school on Tuesday.
The students will be handed the stamps but the school wanted them to write letters, put the stamps on the envelopes and post them to understand the purpose of a stamp.
“If we had just given the stamps to them there would be no memory or value associated with it. We are celebrating our legacy of 70 years and letter writing is a part of our legacy,” said Krishna Damani, trustee, South Point.
After writing the letters, the students are posting them in a letterbox placed on their campus by the postal department.
In the age of digital technology, children are used to everything being delivered instantly. “But they will have to wait for the letters to be delivered to their parents. It will teach them patience,” said Damani.
Bhattacharjee said the exercise would not be complete unless the students knew how stamps work.
Class VIII student Manideepa Ray wrote a letter to her parents — her first, she said.
“I am more used to writing emails but this is a unique experience, to write a letter and post it. I have heard about letters from my grandparents and also seen a few that they have kept with them,” said the 14-year-old.
“Since we can do all of this on the phone we have never sat down to write a letter on paper with a pen,” Manideepa said.
India Post, philatelic department, Kolkata, has designed a special postal stamp under their My Stamp programme.
The school will complete 70 years on April 1, 2024.
Children in pre-primary classes will draw and paint and post those to their homes.
Those in junior and middle school are writing to their parents about their activities in school.
Students in Classes IX to XII will write to their future selves. The students can document their experiences about the Covid times, their aspirations or how they want contribute to the planet, a teacher said.
“Years later, this letter with the commemorative stamp will be a piece of memory for them,” the teacher added.