Three students from PSBB Nungambakkam, Amrith Bhargav, Anuradha Rao and Chandana Seshadri of Std. XI, along with Mrs. Sheela Rajendra, were selected to represent India at the World School Forum in Seoul.
Initiated in 1997 by Masaki Matsudaira, the former Chairman and present advisor to the board of trustees of Kanto International School, Tokyo, Japan, the World School aims to create a truly borderless entity that will bring together high school students and teachers from across the world, for the purpose of helping students to adopt a global perspective, through accepting international standards.
This year, it was a thirteen-day programme between, Oct. 20 and Nov. 2, at Seoul, Korea at the Yangchung High School, the theme being Environment: Housing and Culture. Students from around 21 schools from twenty different countries participated this year.
The students were made to do a lot of activities – they were made to do a presentation on their home country, school and the different housing styles prevalent. Also, they had to put up stalls for display with ethnic, traditional and rich items depicting their motherland.
Apart from sight-seeing in Seoul, a Korean home stay for five days was organized too. The students also had the opportunity to see the traditional housing centres in Korea. To bring out the ideas in the young minds and make them see the pros and cons of different aspects to home living, three debates were conducted too, the motions being – Rural Vs Urban Life, Traditional Vs Modern Housing, Nuclear Vs Joint Family
Like an icing on the cake, the students were asked to prepare for a cultural extravaganza, describing their homeland. India’s Cultural extravaganza consisted of a bhajan (maithreem bhajata) rendered by Amrith Bhargav and Mrs. Sheela, and a dance (Karagattam, a dance performed outside temples in South India) by Anuradha Rao and Chandana Seshadri.
To quote the students – “It was an extremely enriching experience for all of us. We sincerely thank our wonderful school for providing us with such an exposure to the outside world, and giving us such a fabulous opportunity to broaden our horizons and perspectives”.
Saniya joined the Team YOCee as Student Reporter for the year 2007 – 08. She continues to report for YOCee since then.
Saniya is a student of Padma Seshadri Bal Bhavan, Nungambakkam branch. She has a concern for the world around her. Protection of environment and making young people aware of the benefits of green and pollution-free environment is her mission. She writes on her blog – http://aspireblog.wordpress.com/