Over 18,000 students to attend summer camps under Thousand Schools Project in Odisha

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bamnipal, May 2:

Summer camps, organised in partnership with ASPIRE, a Delhi-based NGO, under Tata Steel’s Thousand Schools Project were  launched today at Daitari primary school in Odisha’s mineral-rich Keonjhar district.

The 45-day long camps are being organized simultaneously in 363 schools in six blocks namely Danagadi and Sukinda in Jajpur, Harichandanpur and Joda in Keonjhar, and Koira and Kutra in Sundargarh districts of Odisha where the Thousand Schools Project of Tata Steel is being implemented. Around 18,000 children have been enrolled for 507 such camps that will run till June 15.

The initiative aims to engage children meaningfully and inculcate the habit of going to schools and learning, enhance involvement of the community in school governance and introduce Learning Enrichment Programme (LEP) – a component of Thousand Schools Project. This project is an important CSR intervention of Tata Steel in education sector of Odisha. In the camps the students are supposed to have activity based teaching including singing, dancing, playing fun games with the help teaching learning materials. Dignitaries also distributed study materials to the students on the occasion.

Addressing the children on the occasion, Anand Sen, President, TQM and Steel Business, Tata Steel said: “Summer camp gives opportunity to the children to learn while having fun. Urging the children to make best use of the time spent in camp. Tata Steel will keep taking many such initiatives in education sector.”

Speaking on the occasion, R.R. Satpathy, General Manager, Operations, Ferro Alloys and Minerals Division, Tata Steel urged parents to send their children to the camp regularly where they will be taught lessons in an innovative way and be kept engaged for the entire summer vacation.

Notably, Anand Sen formally launched the camps in presence of Sunita Pradhan, Samiti Sabhya, Daitari, Krushnapriya Ojha, Principal, Daitari Primary School, R.R. Satpathy, General Manager, Operations, Ferro Alloys and Minerals Division, Tata Steel, Biren Ramesh Bhuta, Chief, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Tata Steel and other dignitaries.

Smita Agarwal, Head, Education, Tata Steel, Shyam Sundar Barik, Regional Manager, OMC, Daitari, Dayaram, Secretary of ASPIRE, parents of children, PRI members of the area and local villagers were also present on the occasion.