You start your day with a flag hoisting ceremony, followed by the sounds of a band
with a march past lead by the student leaders of the school. Then there are the
speeches one hears once in a year and yes the inevitable sight of a student or
students fainting during the function. Doesn’t this seem familiar to you?
Yes, we are referring to the template
followed by schools as they celebrate the Goa Liberation Day. A visit to
schools in the state to learn the attitude of the very young students to
Liberation Day was a revelation. Sudha, a student in standard 9 at the St
Thomas high school, Cansaulim said “Every year, we celebrate this day as Goa
liberation day to celebrate the freedom of our state from Portuguese rule. At
our school we are having a flag hoisting ceremony, group singing, dance
performance and a skit performance. We actually want to go out to our community
and celebrate it with all our village members as well. This function is hardly
celebrated by the people, so I want them to enjoy this day like any other fest
of our area.” She further added that she also wanted students from 1st to 6th
to join in the celebrations as they were having online classes. Chandini,
another student from the school said, “ I really want our education to be more
diverse. Teaching more languages to the interested students could be helpful.
This will help us understand different cultures that exist within and out of
our country as well. As our state is a tourist attraction and many Goans also
go out of the country to work, bringing this to our curriculum can serve the
purpose in the best way possible.” She also added that this should not be made
a compulsory subject, because then the purpose of choice will be defeated.
Ashwiti said, “I am singing a group song for the function. There are students
who are performing skits and there are some students from our class who are
interested in dancing. If we could get regular training in such interesting
fields, it would be fun and less stressful.” She added that it would help them
learn something new and interesting and a fun break from the regular subjects.
This she felt would improve concentration during classes.
The pandemic has taught everyone the importance of taking care
of themselves both physically and mentally. Preston said, “The frequency of
physical education classes should increase. Playing is fun and it is also good
for our health. Along with this, we also need to give equal importance to yoga
and meditation, because it helps us to calm down.” Rio said, “We should have a
football ground in our school. Activities like swimming should also be encouraged
within us. If possible then school should also have a swimming pool.”
All the students were generally concerned about the environment.
Shahana said, “I want to keep the surroundings clean. Awareness about waste
segregation should be done in our area on a wider scale. This will in turn help
us to keep the state clean and green.” Banily said, “Promoting the usage of
cloth bags should be done and the use of plastic should be reduced.”
The students also appreciated the Government for their
initiative on the Pink force. Swizel said, “Inclusion of the pink force in the
police is an empowering step of the government. My mom and teachers will
definitely feel safer now.”
These
young school students have definitely clear ideas of what needs to be done and
perhaps the authorities could cast consider them and bring in changes as the
state celebrates its 60th Liberation Day.
