Bal Sabha podium for government school kids to boost talent

KOTA: Eleven-year-old Sunita, who studies in a senior secondary school in Sahaspuria, was thrilled with the applause she received after she recited a patriotic song at a Bal Sabha , held on Devnarayan temple premises of the village. She looks forward to performing again in the next Bal Sabha. Similarly, Ganesh Gurjar and Dhanraj Gurjar, both in class XII, felt motivated after they received a cash prize for singing the Tejaji legend, a popular traditional folk lore in praise of the folk deity Tejaji, that they are learning these days from a conventional Tejaji singer.

Bal Sabhas are the recently introduced initiative by the state government as an attempt to bring out and sharpen talent among young students in government schools and to provide them with a platform to perform and a weekly occasion to their parents, villagers and local representatives to interact with the school teachers, to know about the working of the school. The sabhas have now become an awaited event every week for the students, parents, locals as well as teachers.

It is a good sign that the students are showing an inclination to learn the arts on the verge of extinction and the Bal Sabha is coming up as a platform for the students in government schools to perform, said Suman Sharma, inspecting official at Bal Sabha in Sahaspuria and senior teacher in government girls senior secondary school at Hindoli. Earlier, the sabhas were restricted only to school premises and were meant for only primary and middle-level students. Bal Sabhas now have expanded to the local community, proving itself as a platform for students to perform and for parents and locals to appreciate them as well as to get feedback on the working of school, said Rishiraj Sharma, assistant project coordinator, Samgra Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (SMSA), Bundi district.