Central schools play a central role in
shaping the lives of the KViians. Holding the largest network of schools with
more than 950 branches, it not only promotes education all over the country but
also instils moral values in its students.
It is a classless, casteless,
region less and religion less school. Namita, 2009 batch of Kendriya Vidyalaya
Puducherry says “KV has its own uniqueness right from its uniform to its aura. It
enhances a student’s self confidence and social skills by exposing him to
various cultures and languages by hosting students from different walks of
life. ” Hence, we never learn to discriminate. It is also the only school which
has Sanskrit as a compulsory language to study. It thus helps us to understand
the development of languages and to value and respect our traditions.
I overcame my stage fear because of the exposure I had in KV. We
organize the morning assembly programmes which included prayer song, thought,
pledge, news, Sanskrit shlok and national
anthem. The quality of our academics is also the best. The things that we learn
lay foundation to the entrance examinations for medical, engineering and other
colleges. “We are trained so well at fees as low as Rs.600 per term. This is
the USP of KVs”, says Ajeesh Damodaran, an alumni of KV Puducherry. The concept
of High Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) in examinations, in fact improves our
research and analytical approach as there are no direct questions and no direct
answers to them available in the text books.
Our school also conducts NSS camps and as NSS volunteers; we even
control the traffic near the school. NSS camp was one of the most memorable
experiences of my KViian life. The day we spent with the physically challenged students
provided me the insights into their lives and made me understand how to always
be optimistic and indefatigable despite several problems. KV is the centre of
learning where each and every learner’s individual talents are chiselled out.
It encourages a sophomore to be creative and think by himself. Hence a student
from KV is always unique yet acts as an integral part of any place he goes to.
The KV also conducts social science
exhibitions every year. It enables the students to explore the culture and
traditions of other states and countries. Students also learn the traditional
dance and songs of that country or state and compete with other KVs at various
levels.
Kendriya Vidyalaya as it is known
today was established in 1965 under the Ministry of Human Resource Development.
Its primary aim was to educate the children of the Indian Defence Services’
officials which was later extended to all. The common syllabus affiliated to
CBSE makes it easy for the students to shift to other KV schools across the
country in case of their parent’s transferable jobs. The Kendriya Vidyalaya
Sangathan, with its headquarters in New Delhi, looks after the functioning of
all the schools.
The best example that describes the KV is the
Common Brotherhood Day celebration by The Times of India last year. The
students from other schools had written messages that read “we should consider
that we are one.” Whereas a Kendriya Vidyalaya student wrote, “We are one.”
There lies the striking difference. And
I miss my school, perhaps more than anyone else.
