The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

EDUCATION

Scholarships to Singapore — a dream come true
Monica Sharma

Chandigarh, December 22
It was nothing less than a dream come true for seven city students who have been awarded scholarships by the Government of Singapore for further studies.

The lucky students, including four girls, had taken the Singapore Airlines Youth Scholarship examination in September. For over 30 days, they kept their fingers crossed. They had their reasons for the examination was tough.

Then came the letters asking them to attend the interviews at a five-star hotel in Delhi. With palpitating hearts, throbbing with excitement, they proceeded to answer the questions and “were more than satisfied with their performance”.

But still they were not sure of the outcome, for 50 students had to be selected from 130 shortlisted from all over the country.

Then came the day they had been so eagerly waiting for. With anxious hands they tore open the letters to find their names inside.

Two of the selected candidates have already cleared the National Talent Search Examination. Four of them — Tania Garg, Gundeep Kaur, Gayanda Sachdeva and Ruchika Basin — are from Sacred Heart Convent. Ramanpreet Pahwa is from Shishu Niketan School, while Amanpreet Singh and Akshat Sarwal are from St John’s High School.

Talking to Chandigarh Tribune, they claimed that initially about 5,000 students had taken the test and only candidates with 85 per cent marks in the class X were eligible.

Regarding the procedure, they said: “We appeared in subjective and objective mathematics and mental ability test followed by interviews.

Giving details, they stated that the scholarships included boarding, lodging, tuition fee, revenue, medical fee and pocket fees of around $ 200 per month.

The students will complete General Certificate of Education Advanced Level (GCE-A Level) from Cambridge Singapore and further seek admission for engineering disciplines in any of the top universities.

Little wonder, Tania Garg is all excited about it ‘’I had never imagined that I would be able to succeed in the examination”.

Ramanpreet Pahwa, an NTSE certificate holder and a national-rank player of carrom says he was quite anxious before appearing in the test .

Akshat Sarwal, Gayanda — another NTSE certificate holder — and Amanpreet Singh, who had an interactive session with American President George W. Bush recently, are also excited about the scholarship.

	Dance, plays mark school function Tribune News Service Chandigarh, December 22 Music, dance and plays marked the annual function of St Joseph’s High School held at Tagore Theatre. The function was presided over by S.S.P. Mr Parag Jain, UT, Chandigarh. The function included items like Indi-Pop, a fusion of East and West, an innovative dance, “The moon and the stars” was enjoyed by the audience while also appreciated was the English play “Mothers Day”, which emphasised the mothers status in the family. A humorous Punjabi skit “Toya” was staged. The childhood memories flashed back as every one swayed to the tunes of Piped Piper of Hamelin”. The grand finale was the bhangra which enthralled the audience. A two-day project display show of St. Kabir Public School, which concluded today turned out to be a display with a difference. It was a world of neat models, crisp charts and exotic tours. Whether it be the beautiful mermaid or the fierce Neptune with his trident in the seas/oceans of class V, the historic peaks of Kargil, underwater mountains, terrace farming, shikaras of Kashmir or comprehensive guidelines from the tourism office at the mountains of Class IV, the captive cobra, the tribals and animals in the forests of Class III, or a magical meeting with the reindeers, the bare beauty of autumn, the cheer of spring and holi, the beat-the-heat summer measures of seasons of class II, the cheerful colours of the rainbow, the natural and baby colours of class I; the journey of milk from cow to cone of class KG, the fusion of warm sunny days, animals, holidays and treats of the summer birthday on a farm of nursery and the fruit trains and the animal mobiles, enthrolled the visitors. Christmas was celebrated by the Linnel Preparatory School Sector 43-A, Chandigarh with great zeal. The tiny tots colourfully decorated the Christmas tree with lights, bells, balloons and buntings. Traditionally attired Santa Claus with a bagful of gifts was cheered by the kids, all under four years when he appeared on the scene. Santa Claus gave gifts and blessings to the children and danced with them to the tune of Christmas carols. Shemrock school wore a festive look as the children celebrated Christmas. The school was beautifully decorated with buntings, bells, stars, balloons and Christmas tree. Children sang carols and danced to the merry tunes of jingle bells. The big event of the day was the visit by Santa Claus.
	X’mas celebrations mark last working day in schools Tribune News Service Chandigarh, December 22 The 10-day winter break in city schools began with Christmas celebrations which marked the last working day of school for the students, here today. With decorated Christmas trees, Santa Claus romping about at the school premises with gifts for the students, dancing, partying and merry-making, happiness reflected on the faces of the students as they participated in the celebrations. The children had a roaring time at the Christmas celebrations at Manav Mangal High School, Sector 21, where the surprise guests of the function, Mickey Mouse and a dinosaur, introduced by Santa Claus, enthralled the students. The Principal of the school, Ms Sanjay Sardana, was the chief guest. While Santa Claus seemed the hot favourite at the fancy dress contest for nursery and KG classes, children were impressive in their portrayal of elephants, letter boxes and Alladin. In the KG class, Divya as a mobile market, Isha as Pepsodent, Nivea as Lakshmi Bai, Rajat as Mr Bush and Navit as Osama bin Laden were the prize winners. Group dances by students of Class I, thought-provoking skits by students of Class II, a play titled carrot halwa with the message of unity is strength and a play depicting the birth of Christ and message of the Bible were among the other items of entertainment. At Ajit Karam Singh International Public School, Sector 41, a ballet conveying the spirit of Christmas, depicting the birth of Jesus Christ, concluded with the message of love and peace to the world. Students participated in carol singing while tiny tots of nursery and KG classes enjoyed a party in their classrooms. Santa Claus distributed sweets at the tastefully decorated school building. Students of Nav Bal Niketan Model School, Sector 20, ushered in the Christmas season with a party at the school premises. A decorated Christmas tree with Santa distributing gifts to students marked the beginning of the cultural programme. A fancy dress contest, quiz contest, modelling, games and antakshri were among the other items presented. The Principal, Ms S Mahajan, inaugurated antakshri while Ms Madhu Ahuja, President of the Lions Club, was the chief guest. The students made Christmas cards on the occasion. SAS NAGAR Colour and rhythm marked the annual function of Manisha Niketan School here on Saturday. The function, which was organised at the venue of the ongoing Bal Manoranjan Mela, started with Sarasvati vandana followed by an English song by tiny tots. A colourful Rajasthani folk dance, jhoomar, was presented by pupils. Tiny tots also enthralled the audience with a poem in Hindi, “Koel didi”. Among the other items were giddha and a patriotic song, “Aanch ane naa denge vatan par.” Manu of Class VII spoke about the achievements of the institution during the year. Mr Kulwant Singh, president of the Municipal Council, was the chief guest and Mr Babbi Badal, president of the Youth Akali Dal, presided. The school principal, Mrs Kamal Bakshi, presented the address of welcome.
	Fun and frolic mark X’mas celebrations Tribune News Service SAS Nagar, December 22 Fun and frolic marked the Christmas celebrations at the Foundation School, here today. The school premises were decorated with coloured papers, balloons and banners. The tiny tots danced and sang songs. Students of Spring Valley Public School celebrated Christmas by making Christmas cards. Singing of Christmas carols marked the celebrations. BARTANA: The tiny tots of the Strawberry Public School, Bartana, celebrated Christmas with songs, dances, poems and giddha. Santa Claus arrived the school premises on a bus and distributed gifts and sweets to the kids.
	Kids enthral at functions Tribune News Service Chandigarh, December 22 The students of St Soldier International School, Sector 28, celebrated their annual cultural and prize distribution function on the school premises with a variety programme. Beginning with the school shabad “Sans sans simro Govind’’, Saraswati Vandana was next on the programme list. Dances and plays were the other highlights of the function. The value of honesty was emphasised in “The missing note’’. A play with the message of saving the environment and the necessity of a plantation drive and family planning were the highlights of the programme. The junior wing brought alive the programme with western dances and action songs. Song “Bache man ke sache’’ by mentally challenged children of the school came in for a lot of appreciation. Following this, 85 students were awarded for excellence in academic and co-curricular activities. While the “Best Girl Athlete’’ went to Neha Saini, the award in the boys’ category went to Vishal Sharma. The principal, Ms S. Chaudhary, read the annual school report. The chief guest on the occasion was Dr RP Bajpai, Director, CSIO. St Mary’s function: The annual function and Christmas celebrations were held at St Mary’s School in Sector 46 on Saturday. The function started with choir singing. Other items included dances and an English Play. The chief guest for the function was Reader and fellow, Panjab University, Dr Cecilia Antony.
	Fast by teachers enters third day Tribune News Service Chandigarh, December 22 The chain fast being observed by the Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union outside the office of the DPI (Punjab) entered its third day here today. The fast is being organised by the committee representing 172 non-government aided and aided colleges in the state. In a press release, Prof N.P. Manocha, president of the union, said that teachers from Jalandhar sat on dharna today. The members on fast included Prof Narinder Naib, Prof Kamaldeep Singh, Prof Jagdish Rai Sharma, Prof Gurmej Mann, Mr BD Budhiraja, Mr Sanjeevan Kumar, Mr B Chand, Mr Ram Bahdur and Mr Lal chand. It was pointed out that the decision of the Finance Department to dilute the 95 per cent grant-in-aid scheme would not be allowed, while the increase in the fee also came in for criticism.