Grade 6 Life skills and Citizenship Education: School

Dear Children, did you know that your school helps you to become good citizens? Your school will not only help you to gain knowledge, it will teach you good manners and help you to develop skills. In this lesson we are going to learn about school and how it contributes towards the development of students while exploring the roles of the school society and the community.
School helps a student to identify and manage one’s self that leads to the development of their character. Now let us move on to learn about self - identity where you, as a member of the school must know how you are identified from others. It is important that you know about yourself and to prove who you are within the school society. Here, you should know information like your full name, address, age, date of admission and admission number.

Are you aware of your good qualities?

Your good qualities will not only help you to be a good citizen but it will also make the surroundings around you pleasant. The people around you will feel thankful to have you in their lives and learn from you. So what are these good qualities we can develop? You must always try to improve these qualities within you and set an example to your juniors at school. By practicing these qualities and avoiding your weak points, you can be a good, responsible citizen.

 

As a student, you must also be aware of your skills and these skills may differ from one person to another. For example, you might be talented in writing while a friend of yours might be a good swimmer. Likewise, it is important to know your own skills and develop them further. Sometimes your own life experience may lead you to gain skills or you might even get them from family and friends, electronic media, observations and reading. So the identification of your skills is important as it helps you to set your life goals.

At the same time, you should identify your weaknesses and try to avoid them. People may possess several weaknesses like being quick tempered, impatience, dishonesty, bullying others, being aggressive and selfishness and by focusing more on improving our good qualities we can avoid these. The weaknesses make an individual unpopular and he/she becomes a troublemaker in the society. Therefore, you can identify your weaknesses, accept them whenever someone shows them to you and remind yourself that you will not repeat them. You can control and avoid it by action.

In life, you might have faced several obstacles and challenges as a student. These might rise from financial hardships, pressure from students who bully you, being unable to gain respect and leadership roles in school, difficulties in communication, lack of confidence etc. However, you can identify these challenges and overcome them by being motivated and strong. With your hard work, you will be able to transform those hardships to strengths and achieve your goals.

 

What are the opportunities you gain from school?

The knowledge you receive and the skills and attitudes you develop within the school will help you to become a responsible citizen in the society. Thus, it enables you to develop your character by involving in different programmes like shrmadana campaigns, felicitation programmes, leadership training, and talent shows, inter cultural programmes, sports training that will help the individuals to learn team work, leadership, flexibility, patience, and mutual cooperation.

Have you got any goals in life?

I am sure that you have objectives in life as a student. You have to ensure that you have good objectives that are practical. When you have such objectives it will benefit the society as well. Whenever you meet hardships to achieve these goals, you must move to another option and make changes as needed. Thus, in order to face these challenges you should have self-confidence, dedication and a strong desire while taking proper action to minimize your weaknesses. As students, you can do some additional reading to gain knowledge, share and communicate new experiences actively and take part in extracurricular activities to improve skills in order to overcome these obstacles.

 

Do you work to a plan?

Planning helps a student to manage one’s self efficiently. It enables you to achieve your goals and organize the daily activities in a timely manner. Planning is very important as it helps you to reduce stress and problems, save time, avoid the wastage of resources, be happy, and develop confidence in you. This shows how important it is to be organized in life and how it will help us to develop ourselves. Planning will also allow you to organize and manage the events and carry out the daily tasks at the school successfully.

 

Have you learnt about the culture of your own school?

The school culture consists of a set of customs, traditions, symbols and rules and regulations that creates the identity of the school.

 Rules and regulations create a healthy learning background within the school and it makes the administration easy and efficient. They are required to maintain discipline within the school and protect the rights of the school community. Moreover, they protect the good name of the school. For example, students should attend school on time and regularly. They are expected to be dressed in the uniform appropriately and respect the values and the staff of the school.

 Traditions of the schools exist within a school for a long period of time and they help to create the identity of the school and instill pride in the students, making the future generations to follow and maintain discipline within the school.

Symbols that represent the identity of your school

Did you find about the symbols of your own school? The school motto, the crest, the flag and the anthem are the symbols that help us to identify the school from other institutions. It is important to give due respect to these symbols as they represent your school. For example, when the school flag is being hoisted at the events/festivals and the anthem is being sung, you are required to give due respect to it by standing at attention while facing the flag. The school anthem instills a sense of pride and respect towards one’s school and makes the students aware of its significant service. This is required to be sung from the heart and loud.

 

> It should be noted that the vision and mission statements of a school show the services rendered by the institution and the several viewpoints about it. The school uniform also represents the school culture and every student in a school must wear it. It helps to maintain the identity of the school and ensures uniformity among the students. It is also a sign of being organized within the school society.

 

Now we will have a look at the organizational structure of the school.

An organizational structure shows you the way in which the administration and development activities of your school are arranged and every member of the school is a part of this. It will be helpful to plan and organize the activities at school and control the members easily. You can also find the organizational structure of your school and draw a plan.

If you look at the administrative structure of your school, you will come to know of several roles in it.

 

 

 When everyone fulfills their duties and responsibilities diligently, it will help them to make a positive contribution to the development of the school.

 

 The Principal of a school is responsible for directing the educational activities. He/she will handle matters like evaluation of students and teachers, supervision and assignment of teachers, admission of students, staff welfare activities and staff development, implement rules and regulations as advised by the ministry and build healthy relationships with parents, past pupils, students and the community.

 

 It is important that good relations between the students and teachers are maintained and it positively affects the education and learning of students.

The teachers are responsible to work with dedication to provide the students a good education and direct them in the correct path. They discipline the students and guide them to build up their personalities. Teachers play a big role in the development of the school and implement assessments. They conduct the exams and submit marks on time. Teachers should encourage the students to do good acts and treat them equally. They are also responsible for the safety of students and help the students during the difficult times. They play a big role in identifying the skills of students and assist them to improve them further. Thus, it is essential that students too work diligently towards fulfilling their duties towards the teachers.

 

How can students fulfill their duties towards teachers?
The students can work with dedication and it will reap the fruits of the hard work put in by the teachers. They can support the teachers and obey them. They must also respect their advice and accept them.

 

- Students are entitled to the right to receive education, security, be treated equally, express ideas, associate friends, protect their identity and develop skills. They are entitled to get and use education, text books, uniform material, laboratories, sports facilities/ equipment, library facilities, computer laboratories/ equipment, and etc.

 

As students, are you aware of your duties and responsibilities? Here are some of them.

 

 

It is essential that one fulfills his/her duties while enjoying the rights entitled to them. If you diligently fulfill your duties, you contribute greatly towards the protection of the rights of others. For example, while you enjoy the right of expression of ideas, you should ensure that you respect the views of the other students as well. It is important that you ensure the protection of the rights of every student without considering the differences like age, ethnicity, color, religion and etc. A student must practice equality and fairness towards his/her peers and help them when required. They should be compassionate towards the peers and act with good manners while setting an example.

 

The non-academic staff of the school helps the principal and the academic staff to put the school affairs in to practice. They maintain cleanliness and help to secure the school premises. The facilities are provided to students by them and they must work for the wellbeing of students.

 

Let us now look at the relations between the society and school.

 

These relations are mutual in nature and several entities like parents, past pupils, organizations, public representatives such as ministers, agents, delegates and ambassadors, clergy and sponsors maintain good relationships with the school.

 

However, these mutual relations between the school and society eventually lead to social development. It leads to the birth of responsible, virtuous citizens and leaders for the future. This will also help to direct the students in the correct path and make them obedient. A platform will be formed for the students to showcase talents and the resources in the school could be utilized for the benefit of the society. The school delivers useful messages conveying the importance of school education, ways of living a healthy life, good habits, nutrition patterns, environmental protection and social values.

 

Community extends corporation in many ways towards the betterment of the school.

 School Development Committee has a panel individuals who represent the past pupils, the academic staff, parents and the zonal education office. This committee develops the school from the resources they receive and make room for bonds between the school and the community.

 Past pupils and sponsors are useful to develop the school and they provide assistance in building new premises and obtaining necessary equipment, sponsoring meals for students, sponsoring events of the school such the sports meets, colors award ceremonies etc. They take part in programmes organized for the betterment of the school.

 The public representatives provide recommendation to the government to provide funds to fulfill the requirements of the school like buildings, sports equipment and instruments. Hence, their support is essential for the development of the school.

 

Protecting the school is a duty more than a social responsibility. The society supports the development of the school and as well as the wellbeing of the students. The physical resources that flow from the community and skills of people in the society can be utilized for this.
Examples: Organizing medical clinics for students, cleaning the school premises through shramadana campaigns, provide the necessary musical instruments, sports equipment, books and journals for the library, computers and laboratories etc.

 

Let’s have a look at the features of a Child friendly school.

 

 

The students, teachers and the community must ensure that a child friendly school is established and it will make room for social development.

 

 

 

 

 

 

by Mekhala Egodawele

Photo source : Internet