St Augustine’s Day School

St Augustine’s Day School Barrackpore and Shyamnagar recently organised a two-day e-career fair, in association with The Telegraph Young Metro. Around 25 guest speakers and 15 colleges came together to guide Augustinians in Augusto e-Career Fair 2020.

“Our career fair is for Class VIII upwards to enhance awareness of the possibilities and opportunities out there and how to understand themselves better to choose the right subject combinations that lead to the career of their dreams,” said St Augustine’s Education Society president Janet Gasper Chowdhury.

Stalwarts from various fields such as journalism, banking, entertainment, civil services and information technology spoke about their journey to the top. Journalist Monideepa Banerjie, career specialist Amrita Dass, Mrinal Desai from Silicon Valley, California, Malavika Banerjee of the sports management company, GamePlan, and ex-police commissioner of Mumbai D. Sivanandhan were among the guest speakers.

“After the pandemic, we have seen that technology has become integral to our existence. So, students would know how to combine liberal arts and technology and have a high-yielding career,” said A.D. Gomes, the principal, St Augustine’s Day School Shyamnagar. Jhuma Biswas, principal, St Augustine’s Day School Barrackpore, said: “It is important to organise such career fairs, so that students can make informed choices about their careers instead of just opting for things which they are not much sure about.”

Lakshmipat Singhania Academy

Technology met empathy and released a whole lot of creativity at ExeBit 2020, the annual inter-school IT fest organised by Lakshmipat Singhania Academy recently. The fest went virtual this year with students from around 28 schools showcasing their tech skills, including film-making, mixing music and even designing games, apps and Gifs within a deadline. The students were divided into two categories — classes VI-VIII and classes IX-XII.

The opening ceremony was streamed live on social media. Chief guest and a cyber security consultant Rakshit Tandon spoke about ethical hacking and the need to create good digital footprints. “Please protect your digital identity and practise information-distancing along with social distancing in times of coronavirus,” he told the audience. School director Meena Kak said: “The students need to build on their resilience quotient along with intelligence quotient and emotional quotient during these disturbing times.”

Krishnagar Public School

Krishnagar Public School, Nadia, has tied up with the local cable operator to show subject enrichment content on television for students of classes X and XII since September. This enterprise would involve subject-related videos that would help underprivileged children from the rural areas get access to education. The teachers of the school are directly involved in this initiative.

The institution was one of the first schools in Nadia to start online education, that is, from the end of March. They started it with the students of classes X and XII and eventually all the students of the school were brought under the ambit of virtual teaching. The school will also address the overall mental health and wellness issues in both students as well as parents. They have introduced co-scholastic activity sessions to help them use their time in a meaningful way.

“Even a small contribution can go a long way in helping the community at large. We wanted to bridge the digital divide, which has cropped up as a major concern in these tough times, hence we are taking every measure to the best of our ability so that no child is deprived of either education or values. Efforts to serve the parents are also taken up, so that they too do not feel the heat of the pandemic much,” said principal Sankar Prasad Dutta.

Julien Day School, Ganganagar

Julien Day School, Ganganagar, organised a host of online events to keep the students in high spirits during this pandemic. The school undertook the initiative to ensure the physical and mental well-being of the students. Apart from just concentrating on academics and following online classes, the school also focused on honing the creative skills of the students. The school held online events on music, cooking, magic, debate, elocution and fashion. Class XI student Sreejib Pal, who took part in the online debate competition, said: “Taking part in such an event gave me immense happiness and an escape from the panic created by the pandemic.”

“It’s an initiative to take school home with online classes, workshops, and competitions. This has motivated the students to hone their talents and regain confidence in them,” said principal Bobby Baxter.