Last month, after three years of disruption, the students in Jharkhand’s Tangrain village were excited to see their stories, poems and drawings in their beloved school magazine.
Their school magazine titled ‘Diya’ was launched by Arbind Tiwari, the headmaster of the Upgraded Middle School in 2017 as a means to hone the creative skills amongst his students.
The magazine consists of short stories, poems, drawings while also dedicating space to articles on health, education and environment which are contributed by his students. However, the publication of the magazine had to be suspended during COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 and it took two years for it to resume.
“I thought that it is important to start working on students’ creative development and hone their skills apart from the usual subjects they study. I gathered some students and discussed making a magazine and to my surprise all of them were happy to be a part of it,” Tiwari, the school headmaster told Gaon Connection.
Their school magazine titled ‘Diya’ was launched by Arbind Tiwari, the headmaster of the Upgraded Middle School in 2017
“Writing poems and stories and doing artwork is not what usually happens in rural schools. I thought I could take up this challenging yet joyful task of cultivating reading and writing habits in my students. Apart from this, I also ensure that the students learn archery and scouting within the school premises,” the 52-year-old added.
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Tiwari has been working as a headmaster in this school since 2017. When he joined the school, he knew he wouldn’t keep himself restricted to academics and would try to inculcate reading and writing habits among his students.
Kumari Meena Mandal, a 13-year-old student of class ninth told Gaon Connection that she enjoys working for the school magazine.
“My favourite subject is Mathematics, however she loves writing stories and making drawings for the magazine. I feel really good about making drawings for the magazine as students and all other teachers get to know that I can draw well,” Mandal said.
“I love decorating the wall where the pages of the magazine are displayed. Apart from writing stories, I also wanted to lead the wall decoration activity so I requested Arbind sir to let me lead it. He happily encouraged me to do so. I am also in charge of collecting the writings and the drawings contributed by the students,” she added.
There are 256 students along with six teachers in this school which is situated in the West Singhbhum district that is 200 kilometres away from state capital Ranchi. There are eight classrooms and a library in the school.
There are 256 students along with six teachers in this school which is situated in the West Singhbhum district that is 200 kilometres
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Tiwari underlined that it gives him immense happiness when students like Mandal take up initiatives to lead the processes involved in making the magazine.
He lives in Sonari town in Jharkhand and has to commute around 52 kilometres to reach the school.
“I want to inculcate the qualities of timeliness and punctuality in my students and I can’t afford to be late for no reason whatsoever,” he said.
