Buoyed by the overwhelming response to the summer project from students of class V to XII, that was introduced in 2023, the state School Education department for the first time this year is bringing the primary students (class I to IV) too under the ambit of this project.
Summer projects in schools will be organised during summer vacations with the objective of giving students a more hands-on approach to concepts and in-depth knowledge on subjects. A senior official associated with the Paschim Banga Samagra Siksha Mission (PBSSM) under the School Education department said that they will soon come up with a guideline in the form of suggestions of activities. It will include advice on conducting a guided tour for the students’ so that they get familiar with their local area, place of significance if any, the flora and fauna, including the bird species. The students can be given a homework assignment based on their exposure to the summer project rather than doing handwriting exercise which often leads to boredom.
“They can be made to do drawing and colouring of things that they have witnessed, projects may include drawing and colouring or even writing short paragraphs on their experience,” the official said.
As per guidelines for students of class V and VI, the summer projects will be aimed at making the student learn to understand and appreciate nature, creating environmentally-conscious citizens. The project for classes VII and VIII will deal with the local history of the locality or climate change taking place. For students of class IX and X, the project would focus on knowing about local libraries, colleges, vocational institutes, hospitals, banks and corporate bodies, corporations and municipalities, encouraging social and community services etc.
For the higher secondary level, students can be involved in social and community services and made aware through field visits at Anganwadi centres, post offices, hospitals, libraries etc and making them understand the way these have been shaping livelihood.
The teachers will hold meetings with the guardians and students to make them aware of the importance of such summer projects. There will be a nodal teacher who will select the assignment for the respective institutions based on classes. The students will have to submit their project when the school opens after summer break. “The projects will provide the students the opportunity to venture into new fields and take on novel challenges. Students will gain soft skills such as collaboration, leadership and independent thinking,” an official in the department said.