Parents’ meet to begin from this session
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, September 20
Following the footsteps of private schools here, all government elementary, high and senior secondary schools of the district will organise parent-teacher meeting from this session.

The first parent-teacher meeting for students of Classes I to V will be held on September 25 and that for Classes VI to X is scheduled on September 27. The meeting will focus on the progress of each child and problems that need to be dealt with. The performance of the students in the recently concluded half-yearly examination will also be discussed.

All school teachers have been directed to prepare report cards properly with remarks on the basis of their performance and tips for improvement. The District Education Department has already begun distribution of copies of printed report cards at Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Bharat Nagar.

Mr Major Singh, Deputy District Education Officer (elementary), said that though such meetings were routine in all public schools, these had never been held in government schools till date. The results were often declared informally whenever the students or their parents approached the school as per their convenience. He said that the need to hold such meetings was being felt for the past few years, but it was not being executed.

The Deputy DEO said that this was also the first time that half-yearly examination had been conducted. He said that earlier the students simply had to appear for the final examination at the end of the session but this time there had been instructions to all school headmasters to prepare question papers and hold all tests as per a datesheet distributed to them a week in advance. He said that the entire effort was being made to improve upon the overall results of the government schools for the final exams to be held at the year end.

Even the secondary wing of the department has passed on similar instructions to high and senior secondary schools. Ms Sudesh Bajaj, Deputy Education Officer (secondary), said that though no written information has been sent to the parents directly, the notice regarding the same has been put outside boards of all schools. She said that all principals had also been directed to make regular announcements regarding the parents’ meet in morning assemblies, asking the students to come along with their parents on September 27.

Ms Bajaj said that even though the parents’ meet was fixed for one day, the school principals had been told to entertain the parents even on the next day or day after. She said that such a relaxation would be given in the maiden meeting only but from next time onwards, these would be organised a little more stringently. Proper counselling and orientation of the parents is a must so that they assure regular attendance of their children and keep a track of their progress, she added.

Plethora of activities at girls college
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, September 20
An inter-class quiz contest was organised by Public Administration Department of Guru Nanak Girls College here yesterday. The president, Mr Gurbir Singh, and Principal, Ms Charanjit Mahal, presided over the function. Ms Nachhattar Kaur welcomed the guests. Four teams participated in the contest. Team C comprising Jyoti, Sanmeet and Rishu bagged first prize, team A comprising Dipneet, Jashoda and Poonam bagged second, while Team D comprising Harpreet, Satinder and Amarjeet bagged third prize. The consolation prize were awarded to Madhu, Jasvir and Sunita. The principal gave away the prizes.

An extension lecture was organised by the Department of History. Dr Ishwar Dyal Gaur, Lecturer, Panjab University, Chandigarh, delivered a lecture on “Punjabi Culture and Civilization”.

A lecture was organised by the Department of Hindi of the college. Dr Shakuntla Yadav, Head, Department of Hindi, Government College for Boys, Ludhiana, delivered a lecture on “Importance of Novel of Jhansi Ki Rani” and gave the knowledge of “alankars”.

The Department of Music (I) organised a lecturer-cum-demonstration on “Techniques of Vedas in the development of ‘Ragas’” at the college. The Principal welcomed the guest artistes, Dr Varinder Kumar, Reader, GND University, Amritsar, and Mr Rajesh Malwia, tabla player. Lecturers from different colleges attended the function. Ms Kulwant Kaur, Head of the Department (I), extended a vote of thanks to the guest artistes.

A paper reading contest was organised by the Department of Sociology. Supriya of BA-II bagged first prize, Shumpy and Satinder of BA-III were joint second and Manpreet and Manmeet were joint third. Dr Daisy Aujla, Head of the Department, extended a vote of thanks.

The Department of Fashion Designing organised a seminar today. Students presented fabrics of India, kalamkari, elements and principles of design etc.

A paper reading contest was organised by Public Administration Department on “Corruption in India”, “Morale in Public Services” etc. These activities were organised in various departments of the college to update the knowledge of the students and enable them to get exposure.

Entrepreneurship workshop ends
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, September 20
A two-day state-level workshop on ‘Entrepreneurship awareness’ concluded here today at the Guru Nanak Institute of Management and Technology in Model Town. Highlighting the hardships and opportunities in the way of entrepreneurship, Mr R.C. Chopra, Director, Small Industries Services Institute, said entrepreneurs should not dream of success overnight and instead work with utmost devotion and relentless efforts.

Ms Geeta Bector of the Cremica Group of Industries, shared some personal experiences of being a successful entrepreneur. She exhorted the students to put up their best efforts in the ventures they took up. She told them that quality, effective leadership and inter-personal skills were the hallmarks of a good entrepreneur. One ought to be bold to take a few risks and show high degree of personal involvement.

A lecture on ‘Entrepreneurship — a hard nut to crack’ was delivered by Mr Ramesh Jasrotia, an entrepreneur. He said that the requisites of a dynamic entrepreneur were understanding of business, definition of customer group, appropriate technology and effective market strategy.

Mr Harpreet Singh spoke extensively on the topic ‘Entrepreneurship — breaking the mind barriers’. He emphasised the need to recognise and grab opportunities promptly. He said that any limitations could be overcome successfully through knowledge, training and expert advice.

On the conclusion of the workshop, the speakers interacted with the audience and answered their queries on various aspects of entrepreneurship. Dr A.S. Bansal, Director of the institute, said that the workshop was organised under the aegis of students’ chapter of the Indian Society for Technical Education (ISTE).

He said that the workshop successfully tackled various myths and misconceptions surrounding entrepreneurship and presented its various facets.

Cassette released

Ludhiana, September 20
“For the love of Punjabi culture, I have brought out a cassette containing Punjabi folk songs,” said Neelam Khosla during the release of “Sun Soniya Pardesi” yesterday. The cassette contains eight tracks. Neelam was coaxed by her husband and friends to record her songs. She has 10 years of training in classical music from Guru Chitamani ji behind her.

Her rendering of “Heer” in the cassette stole the heart of everyone present at the function. She said she had picked lyrics from a book containing old Punjabi folk songs. OC