Aim to improve mental health: State board schools in Maharashtra told to organise special activities every Saturday

According to the circular, the ‘Ananddayi Shanivar’ activities are expected to “create awareness among the students about their behavior and responsibilities, to develop good habits, a cooperative attitude and leadership qualities.”

The circular suggests activities such as pranayama, yoga, training in disaster management, financial management, health-related awareness, road-safety, games, mindfulness-based activities and problem-solving techniques to promote children’s overall development.

Mahendra Ganpule, president of Maharashtra Headmasters’ Association, said, “We already have regular classes on Saturdays. These activities are expected to be done parallelly. Teachers have the required training. The academics will have to be covered up on other days.”

The aim of these activities, which are said to be in alignment with the National Education Policy 2020, is to reduce dropout and failure rate of students and facilitate them to ‘study well.’

President of Zilla Parishad Teachers’ Association, Maharashtra, Vijay Kombe said, “Schools already hold various kinds of activities for students on Saturday. A school runs only for four hours on Saturday and after some physical training, we hold different activities like poetry readings, storytelling, group discussions and so on.”