Chase Your Dreams, an online co-curricular programme, was launched on Sunday coinciding with Children’s Day. Students from 20,000 schools from Bengal, NorthEast, Odisha and Jharkhand are expected to participate.

This programme has been conceptualised by four friends — Rohan Gavaskar, Gautam Bhimani, June Maliah, and Saurav Chatterjee — and supported by the Debanjan Sen Foundation. The programme will run for three months.

“Chase Your Dreams is a mental health initiative, designed for students who have suffered during the Covid-19 pandemic. With no school, no games, no outdoor activities, zero social interaction and no friends their young lives have been thrown upside down overnight. This initiative, virtual though, is an attempt to make them smile again,” Debashis Sen, managing trustee of the Foundation said.

“Entries will be through a two-minute video uploaded on the website. Students from class IV to XII are eligible to send their entries.

June Maliah

“There will be motivational speeches by celebrities and psychosocial support where specialists in child mental health will explain to the students the impact of the current situation.

“They can give expression to anything like singing, dancing, gymnastics, exercise, mock match commentary, drama, playing an instrument.

“Weekly and monthly prizes for the best videos will be given and shortlisted eight videos from each age group will get a chance to perform live at a gala event,” he added.

Debanjan Sen Foundation’s inter-school football tournament for boys and girls was a huge success during the pre-pandemic days.

“It will restart once normality returns,” Sen said.