Prioritise ECA At School

In our school education system, approximately 220 days are considered actual class running days. During these days, students are kept under strict discipline, engaged in rote learning and memorising things with the hope of doing better in the examinations. School management committees (SMCs) and head teachers feel proud if the classes are running in silence or if teachers are delivering their content non-stop. However, the quality of our school education is still poor. We have not been able to achieve what our stakeholders and educational experts have been advocating for. 

Our actual class running days are more than those of advanced countries, but we have not been able to transform the age-old teaching learning mechanism. We teach more than two hundred days in an academic session, but there is no priority for extracurricular activities (ECA). We have a misconception about ECA that students do not learn if they are engaged in extra activities. How much time is allocated for extracurricular activities in our schools ? 

ECA faciliates all round progress of students. In the name of credit hours and working days, we have been suppressing the potential talents from our schools. Games and sports, music, literature, yoga, singing and dancing, nationality, ethics and value education, social service, learning culture, and humanism have all been given little or no space. Some of these activities are in our present school curriculum, but they are still insufficient. 

Without incorporating them into our education, we cannot cultivate humanistic consciousness in our students. Do we want our children to become a mere money earner or a good citizen? With this teaching mechanism and mentality, can we make our students obedient, hardworking and competent? 

Along with class teaching, extracurricular activities should be prioritised to achieve the desired achievements. Students can perform better and achieve success if they are exposed to extracurricular activities. In today's class, ECA has become a motivating factor to enhance students' learning. Our parents, SMCs, and head teachers should shun the misconception that it hinders students' learning. 

We have to believe that there are many examples of success stories. Students should get rid of the monotony of working days, bulky books, home works. Free of bags, book and dress may be a motivating factor for sustainable learning at least once a month. These days, students should learn soft skills and other important life skills.

Parents have a tendency not to send their children to school on an ECA day. But the organisation of ECA in school is not a waste of time. On the contrary, it positively boosts students' learning. The learned items become meaningful and relevant while engaging in ECA. We do not give credit to art, literature, music, dancing, project work and brainstorming activities. But in advanced societies, they value learners' self-engagement to learn. They learn from each other's mistakes. 

A sense of competition will be developed right from childhood. We have to realise the fact that all students are uniquely different from each other. Each one of them varies in his/her hobbies, capacities, talents, and performances. So, it's the ECA at school that helps to explore such hidden talents in students.