An ideal school gives to students the scope and the spirit of healthy competition — to excel at all levels.
Class work and the home work given by teachers have their academic importance; in this also one who excels wins the praise and appreciation from the teachers. But academic distinctions alone do not fulfill all the purpose for which the school exists.
A school is the workshop of life-building in which the raw material is the nascent young pupils. The Principal, the teachers are molders of this raw material into the ideal mold.
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For this process, many more activities, other than vroom ones are needed to fulfill the purpose. A young pupil might have the potential and the natural Lent to excel in games and sports and he needs to go to play field and the sports ground for the purpose.
There can be students whose natural bent of mind is towards creative art and the art room is his field where he needs to be given the chance to exhibit his potential. Even little children of the nursery or the primary classes can draw such lines and make such figures which may amaze an on-looker and may be led to exclaim —’What an idea, how could he imagine this?’
One cannot and does not know how much talent in what direction lies in a child’s brain. This can only come out when he or she is given that opportunity. The school has to provide such chances and explore out the pearls from the sea-depths of the young mind.
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Art competitions of different level of students are activities that need to be arranged and the excellence in that to be rewarded and encouraged.
There are boys and girls who have a knack of oration. They have in them an amount of self-confidence that they can face spectators and audience. Elocution contests and debates offer them the chance to exhibit this latent talent of theirs.
Such inter-class or inter-school competitions should regularly be held which would further them to become good debaters — who knows, they may one day become parliamentarians and what they have gained during their school days may place them in good stead in that field.
Cultural shows; dramatics performances, mono- acting’s are events which schools generally hold and it so necessary for schools to hold them. That is also at of total education.
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Taking part in such events gives children a sense of self-confidence and embellishes their accomplishments which they possess or can even develop. Anything, any activity which helps in the development of the total personality of young boy or girl is a part of education and competitions, the effort to excel from others, is an incentive which must be provided to a young mind.
Such an opportunity is offered to them only through such cultural and extra-curricular activities Opening up of personality; developing the latent talents- promotion of the intellectual effort and an opportunity of healthy competition — all these are factors which an educational institution should always encourage — only when it does this, it fulfills its role in the total education of the young.