'Conserve heritage, score better' - CBSE tells students

Now the tall standing Qutab Minar or the echoing walls of the Humayun Tomb could soon fetch the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) students better marks if they pledge and take the initiative to conserve them.

The CBSE, in a circular dated January 7, 2010, to its schools has asked them to administer an oath to all students on January 12, which will be observed as the Heritage Day.

The CBSE has instructed the schools to involve their students in the protection of monuments in their vicinity and encourage them to organize seminars, quizzes, skits and exhibitions on heritage conservation.

According to CBSE, organizing such activities will help the students to score better in their continuous and comprehensive evaluation from up to class X for social science.

Sensitizing them on the issue, the CBSE aims to encourage them to respect all monuments, not to scribble, deface or encroach upon them and ensure all measures to conserve them.

CBSE chairperson, Vineet Joshi stated in his circular that, "The pledge may be administered at a local monument for which the schools can contact the local ASI office, State Archeological Department or INTACH. A separate notice will also be issued to the heads of these organizations by us so that the children can visit them from school."

As a part of a project in social science, the CBSE has specially emphasized on ‘adopt a heritage scheme’ where the students are supposed to adopt a historical building in their neighbourhood and take every possible measure to protect and create awareness about it.

The detailed circular mentioned the role of the students who can act as guides for the visitors and take them around the monument to explain its history, architectural features, connected stories, ethos etc.

"They can also distribute post cards, greeting cards and posters as souvenirs for the visitors. However, making a CD or collecting archival sources can also be done. The CD may contain the interviews of the visitors, actual caretakers, and those in authority by asking pertinent questions," the circular added.

With the introduction of this project, the CBSE is targeting not just the students but the entire school community.

Although this directive for the CBSE schools across the country is a recent one, but various schools in Delhi are already involved in the process and now plan to take it further with the encouragement from the Board.

Bharti Sharma, principal, Amity International School, Saket, said that, "It has been many years now that our students have been taking such projects of conservation but with the CBSE including it in the curriculum, it is expected to be a mass movement."