COVID-19 has drastically impacted the lives of students and teachers globally; however, the students of G.D Goenka Public School Vasant Kunj stood in solidarity with those children and teachers who cannot gain access to academic resources.
Sewa Bharti, one of India’s largest NGOs striving for the upliftment of economically weaker sections of society, has been regularly working with G.D Goenka’s high school students for the past three years. Throughout their senior years, the students have been proactively volunteering as tutors to more than 300 underprivileged children through Sewa Bharti’s Delhi NCR Centres in Malviya Nagar, Chattarpur, Inderpuri, Madhipur, Dwarka, Punjabi Bagh, Jawahar Nagar. Apart from organising academic and extra curriculars classes, the students have also undertaken CPR and Heart Resuscitation sessions with the Heart Care Foundation of India.
Over 200 Goenkans, spread across different parts of Delhi, establishments of Sewa Bharti took forward this journey with Sewa Bharti with another successful camp over the summer and winter vacations. They collectively went to centres and taught the children different things, including drama, music and dance, physical education, computers. In addition to teaching, some students even developed curriculum for the Sewa Bharti schools further contributing to their academic growth and development. SEWA BHARTI had also conducted a workshop for the Goenkans, 7th May 2019, to train them and apprise them of the problems faced by the underprivileged students.
Despite the uncertainty in regards to the delay in the 2020 CBSE results, the ex-students participated in a virtual volunteering program, by training more than 100 government school teachers in academic subjects through online games, worksheets and modules to enhance the experience of online classes.
The students of G.D. Goenka Public School, Vasant Kunj participated in two Sewa Bharti online projects from 23 May, 2020 onwards.
Around 100 students from classes 9 to 12 took part in an online Basti exchange programme. It was an 'Each One Teach One' endeavour. The Goenkans taught subjects like Mathematics, English, Science, Social Science etc. through Google Meet and sent worksheets through WhatsApp. Moreover, they mentored the underprivileged students by giving motivational talks on mental health, fitness, hygiene and safety measures to be taken during this pandemic situation.
In the second online project, the alumni of G.D. Goenka Public School, Vasant Kunj, trained the Sewa Bharti teachers of Delhi through Google Meet. Subjects like Maths, English, Computers and Psychology were taught by sharing powerpoint presentations, modules and videos. This innovative campaign was an enriching learning experience for all the students who realized how essential it is to help the underprivileged during these difficult times. They also understood and appreciated the hard work and dedication of teachers who are adapting to this new technique of imparting education.
Students from various prestigious schools such as Bosco Public School, Modern School Barakhamba Road, British School, D.P.S R.K.Puram, G.D. Goenka Rohini, The Shri Ram School Moulsari, as well as eminent universities such as IILM, Delhi University, Amity University participated in this campaign wherein the students of G.D. Goenka Public School, Vasant Kunj played a lead role. The Goenkans started this initiative and helped the project spread its wings across the NCR successfully.
An Interschool Basti Exchange experience competition was organised by Sewa Bharti, one of the largest NGO of our country, wherein the students had to make PowerPoint presentations and videos about their experiences of teaching underprivileged students online this year in the ‘Each One Teach One’ Drive. 45 elite schools and colleges participated in this drive and competition and our school bagged the first position. The winners were as follows: -
- Mahek Arora -9E
- Yashanshi Sajwan -10 D
- Sparsh jain -10D
- Tushina rupani -11F
- Sreevats pande -11B
- Arshdeep Kaur -11 B
- Jagrit kohli -12C
- Diya anand -12F
- Sanya Bansal-12 F
Furthermore, the students’ volunteering experiences have inspired a number of personal social work projects recognised nationally at the Pramerica Spirit of Community Awards. The 'Pramerica Spirit of Community Awards' is an annual nationwide search to identify and recognize school students who have made a positive difference in their communities through volunteer community service. Nine students participated from class 11 and all of them won bronze medals for their various social service contributions in 2018-19.
