Indus Valley Times

By Sudam Patra

Bhubaneswar, July 11 : Continuing its effort to support the Bahanaga High School in bringing back the students to school, Reliance Foundation in collaboration with Balasore District Administration conducted two interactive sessions ‘Sneha Srujan’ in July. Theses day-long sessions involving students, teachers, school managing committee members and experts were held on 1^st and 8^th July, as a follow-up action after the first round Sneha Srujan campaign conducted in six villages during 19-20 June.

The three rounds of Sneha Srujan sessions with students, parents, teachers, other stakeholders, has helped in reducing stress and resulted in a significant increase in the number of students coming to school and attending the classes.

The children from the villages surrounding Bahanaga High School got psychologically affected by the grave rail accident that shook the nation. Surrounded by fear and reluctance to go back to school, the first round Sneha Srujan campaign conducted in six villages during June 19-20, helped in breaking the social barriers that obstructed the children’s education. It emphasized the need for going back to school while sensitizing the children in dealing with stressful situations, ignoring myths and misconceptions, overcoming fear, and parental care in times of stress.

The Sneha Srujan session on 1^st July, was organised jointly by Reliance Foundation, Balasore District administration andMo School Odisha at the Bahanaga High School premises. Officials from Mo School Odisha encouraged and motivated the students to attend the classes and focus on both curricular as well as extra cocurricular activities. Teachers and members of the School Management Committee and Alumni Association also supported in organizing the programme and mobilizing participation of students, wherein over 350 students participated. AbinashSatpathy, Assistant Director Cum Programme Officer and Saroj Kumbhar, Zonal Project Monitoring Officer, Mo School Odisha, Dharanidhar Patra, Additional District Education Officer, Balasore,Ratikanta Nayak, Secretary, Rural Development Center, Dr.Madhumita Das, Mental Health Expert, YudhisthiraPanigrahi, Consultant School Safety, Child Protection, and Dr Biswajit Mishra, Intern, MBBS, FM Medical College participated and encouraged the students.

Similarly, the Sneha Srujan session on 8^th July, organised jointly by Reliance Foundation and Balasore District Administration witnessed participation of around 300 students.  The in-school programme engaged children in bringing back the fondness to their school, through various recreational activities and competitions such as paper craft making, drawing, essay writing, storytelling, singing, balloon blowing as stress buster, rope activity, and several others organised as part of this campaign. The interactive programme is aimed at reducing the risk of psychological distress among students of Balanaga High School.