" Nurturing  Kudrat "

Environment Awareness Programme for School children (2008-09)

JICA Alumni Association of India (JAAI) made a new beginning in 2004-05 by associating directly with schools to organize environment awareness programme for school children. The objective of the programme has been to engage and encourage students who are the torch-bearers of the future world to protect the environment. This year, “Nurturing Kudrat”, the ‘Environment Awareness Programme for School Children’ was organized on January 9, 2009 jointly by JICA, JAAI and Delhi Public School, Dwarka in the school premises. It was an affirmation of the need to conserve and promote an awareness of the priceless, rich heritage i.e. the environment, among the school children, and to facilitate in them, an appreciation of nature.

The programme started off with the plantation of saplings by the Chief Guest, Mr. H.Irigaki, Chief Representative, JICA India Office, Mr Yukihiro Fukuda, Counsellor, Embassy of Japan and Mr. Kojiro Uchiyama, Director, Japan Information Center, Embassy of Japan. The inaugural programme included the lighting of the lamp, followed by Japanese welcome song sung by the school students.  The guests were then felicitated by the tiny-tots with planted pots. This was followed by welcome address by Ms. Sunita Tanwar, Principal, DPS, Dwarka. She appreciated the efforts being made by JICA as well as JAAI in promoting consciousness about environment among the students. She also thanked Mr. R.K. Jaiswal, Secretary, JAAI for hosting such an important programme in collaboration with DPS, Dwarka and for his support. Mr. Zakaria Khan Yusufzai, President, JAAI delivered the keynote address in which he emphasised on the need to conserve the environment.

The whole programme was spread over three different venues where the three events that are, Inter-School Quiz Competition, Inter-School Poetry Composition & Recitation Competition and Intra-School Painting Competition took place.  18 Schools participated in the programme.

Inter-School Environment Quiz Competition

Each school team consisted of two participants. The event was conducted in two phases. The preliminary phase was screening round which was open to all participating schools. It consisted of written multiple-choice questions on environment. Based on their performance in the screening round, six schools were selected for final round namely, New Era Public Maya Puri, St. Gregarious School, Dwarka, Bal Bharti Public School, Dwarka, DPS, Dwarka and DPS, Noida. The final round consisted of audio-visual and rapid fire rounds. Ms. Poonam Sinha was the Quiz Master and Ms. Puja Sehgal coordinated the event. The winner trophy went to DPS, Dwarka and Runner-up trophy was bagged by DPS, R.K. Puram. The participants of the Winner and Runner-up teams were also given individual prizes. It was enthralling to know the awareness of the new generation about the environment.

Inter-School Poetry Composition & Recitation competition

Each school was represented by two participants. There were three independent judges, Mr. H. Irigaki, Chief Representative, JICA, Mr. Zakaria Khan Yusufzai, President, JAAI and Ms. Sushma Saraf, Education Coordinator, Scholastic India. The event was coordinated by Ms. Suman Dagar and Ms. Hema Joshi. The participants were given themes on the spot. They had to select one of the themes such as Earth- Today & Tomorrow, Keep the World Clean Keep the World Green, Trees the lifeline of Mankind, Flora Fauna & Future, Prakriti (Nature) etc. The participants also had the option to choose their language as English or Hindi. Besides imagination, their composition and recitation revealed their emotion and sensitivity towards nature and environment. The judges were spell-bound by their composition and had a very difficult time judging the best. DPS NOIDA won the Winner trophy and Adarsh Public School, Vikas Puri bagged the Runner-up trophy. Individual prizes were also given away to the Winner and Runner-up.

Intra-School Painting Competition on Environment

The theme for the painting competition was Environment. It was held in the open green lawn of the School.  The place was a splash of colour and creativity.  The competition served as a platform for the budding artists to showcase their talent. Ms. Reena Gupta and Ms. Smita Pushkarna were the coordinators for the event.  The independent judges for the event were Mr. D. Shekar from JICA India Office and Mr. T.P.S. Oberoi from JAAI. The competition was formatted into Junior level (Classes IV to VIII) and Senior level (Classes IX and XI).

In the Junior level, Sabhya Sood (Class VIII) won the first prize while the second prize went to Akshit Medhiratta (Class VI) and the third prize was bagged by Shivi Ghai (Class VIII). Winners of the consolation prizes were Puja Gupta (Class VIII), Iayani Tiwari (Class VI) and Vidhi Gupta (Class VII).

In the Senior level, Juhi Gupta (Class XI ) won the first prize while the second prize went to Ashwani Kumar (Class XI ) and the third prize was bagged by Lakshmi G. Kamath (Class XI ). Winners of the consolation prizes were Puja Gupta (Class VIII), Iayani Tiwari (Class VI) and Vidhi Gupta (Class VII). Abhay Maheshwari (Class XI) got the consolation prize. Later, each participant was given a participation certificate.

On conclusion of the events, the participants gathered in the auditorium. The chief guest, Mr. Irigaki addressed the gathering the efforts of the school to promote awareness among the students to conserve the environment. The programme ended with a vote of thanks by the student to the participants as well as the organisers with special thanks to Mr. R.K. Jaiswal, JAAI Secretary, for all his efforts to organise the programme successfully.