When Director General (DG) of Prisons and Correctional Services Rishi Raj Singh entered the small hall at the Kerala State Council for Child Welfare, Thycaud, little did he know of the questions awaiting him.
The 56 young participants of Punarjani-2016, a vacation camp organised by the council, gathered at the hall, grilled him on topics ranging from his favourite movie to the need for helmets and seatbelts in vehicles. The participants, all students of classes 5, 6, and 7, were selected from various colonies within the city.
Mr. Singh said the rising popularity of summer camps pointed to the decreasing importance that schools gave to extracurricular activities. Reading, writing, sports, drawing and painting used to happen during school hours earlier, he said.
Mr. Singh also strongly criticised growing tendencies among parents and teachers to pressure students over grades. “These days talents are discovered through TV shows, instead of schools,” he added.
Keralites used to lead the country’s teams in various sports and games, he said, emphasising the need to give extracurricular activities their due priority.
“Seeing his handle-bar moustache, I thought he was a serious person. But the question-answer session proved me wrong,” says Gouri P. Suresh, a participant.
The camp which started on April 2 will go on till May 17.
