Gurdaspur Diary: Batala school felicitated by Union minister

A school is a building which has four walls and a future inside. This is precisely what the Batala-based Laurens International School stands for as it prepares young impressionistic minds for their journey in life. Recently, the institution had hogged the spotlight by bagging the best school award in terms of infrastructure and teaching pedagogy in the region. Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat was the chief guest at the felicitation ceremony held at the Dr Ambedkar International Centre in New Delhi where the ‘Golden Mentor Award’ was given. Its Principal, the erudite Upma Mahajan, too, was felicitated with the ‘Gems Award’ at the same function. John Balaji, Minister for Minority Affairs and Prof Nageshwar Rao, vice-chancellor of IGNOU, were also present. Upma Mahajan has worked her way up through the ranks and surely knows a thing or two about how to impart education to young minds. She joined the school in May and carries the experience and expertise of working for nine years in a reputed institution of Dinanagar, known to be the educational hub of the region. “Children must be taught how to think, not what to think. The true goal of school education is intelligence plus character. I am a woman who leads by example,” says Upma. Mahajan says these days, the staff and students can fall back on technological aids in their endeavour to learn something new every day. “We must respect our parents because they passed school without Google. Nowadays, children have access to all sorts of technology which in any case is a good development. The job of a good educator is to teach students to see the vitality and energy in themselves. The basic difference between Laurens school and other institutions of the region is that while they give children answers to remember, we give them problems to solve. Mark my words, this is a big difference in itself,” she quipped. School Chairman Baljinder Singh and Director Gurinder Kaur were delighted to see their school and its Principal bagging the coveted awards.

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Gurdaspur karatekas shine

Gurdaspur’s young karate players have done the city proud in the All India Open Karate Championship which concluded in New Delhi last week. Seven players won medals and now preparations are afoot to felicitate them. These are Yuvraj Singh (gold medal), Viren, Ekamjot Singh and Samarvir Dogra (all silver medallists), Swastic Mahajan, Jaideep Singh and Muskan (all bronze medal winners). These youngsters are imparted coaching at the Girls Senior Secondary School, Post Office Chowk, under the watchful eyes of Gurwant Singh, holder of a black belt who is also an A-grade national referee. The coaching centre functions under the direct control of Romesh Mahajan, Honorary Secretary of the District Child Welfare Council (DCWC), Gurdaspur. Says Ms Anuradha, a counsellor, “Karate instills a sense of confidence in youngsters. I often tell the children to set their goals high and not to look back till they achieve them. If you train hard, you will be hard to beat. Children learn a lot from sports. The main thing that sport teaches them is not whether you get knocked down, it is all whether you get up after being knocked down,” she said. She says she also tells the youngsters that they have to go a long way in life for which they have to be prepared. “If you are prepared, you have won half the battle. Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude,” she remarked. Now, that is well said Ms Anuradha. (contributed By Ravi Dhaliwal)