Patna: Project Veer Gatha (PVG), launched by the ministry of defence in association with the education ministry in 2021, with the aim of disseminating the tales of valour, selfless sacrifice and courage of the Gallantry awardees and the life stories of these bravehearts among the students to inculcate the spirit of patriotism, has evoked a dull response in the state.
The participation target for the state was fixed at 25 lakh for the ongoing Veer Gatha Project 4.0, but only around 11.90 lakh students took part in it. This is despite the extension of the last dates for submission of registrations by schools twice.
Of the 38 districts, only Patna and Vaishali are better positioned with around 1.86 lakh and 1.85 lakh participations, respectively. Participation by CBSE school students in the capital is much ahead (1,36,931) in comparison to non-CBSE (49,482) school students. But at the state-level, the number of non-CBSE participations (6,81,907) has outnumbered CBSE schools (5,08,405)—totalling to 11,90,312 students' participations, which is only 47.6% of the target.
The contest is held in four categories: For classes III to V, VI to VIII, IX to X, and XI to XII. Students are required to participate by way of poems, paragraphs or essays, paintings, drawings, multimedia presentations, and videos on topics related to freedom fighters and gallantry award winners.
"Each school has to send the best entries in each four categories for the district-level contest, and the final winners then participate at the state-level event, the winners of which take part in the national-level competition. The final winners are felicitated during Republic Day events," said an official associated with the project.
Despite the launch of fourth season—Veer Gatha Project 4.0—many govt schoolteachers expressed ignorance about the project, while others are not even aware of the PVG.
"We do not have much information, and none of our students participated in it. The authorities should provide timely and detailed information for greater participation," rued Manoj Kumar, a teacher and deputy general secretary, Bihar Primary Teachers' Association.
Another teacher from a middle school at Mabbi (Darbhanga) echoed similar sentiments. "There are around 3,000 schools in the district, and I am sure very few teachers are aware of the PVG. Proper and sufficient details should be disseminated by the authorities for enthusiastic involvement by the students," said the teacher, requesting anonymity and claiming ignorance about the project that is in its fourth year.
Explaining the low participation by the students, Sanjay Kumar, state nodal officer for Veer Gatha Project 4.0 and state programme officer (quality) with the Bihar Education Project Council, said many reasons can be attributed to it. "Many of our districts are flood-prone, causing classes to remain suspended during inundation, and the festive season ensues post-monsoon, which results in lower participation in the activities under the project. But we are working on finding ways to improve the students' engagements," he said.
Kumar suggested that a change in the timing of participation, either at the beginning of every academic session or from November, can also increase the students' participation.
He, however, rejected the teachers' claims that proper information was not being disseminated about the project.