Usthi sets great importance on cultural and extracurricular activities. The school’s daily routine should not only be educational, but also diverse and entertaining. After a long Covid break, the school children are now all the more excited about the creative challenge.
The schools run by Usthi in India follow the Indian curriculum. Apart from that, there is also a focus on cultural and extracurricular activities. From music to sports and traditional dance, the school children are offered a broad programme to provide a comprehensive education.
Recently, a cooking competition was held at the Thaddeus School in Bhastara. The objective of the teachers was to create awareness about food among the children. The students brought a variety of ingredients with them, from which they were allowed to prepare a dish of their choice.
As hardly any extra-curricular activities could take place in the past two years, events like these are particularly valuable.
Extracurricular activities help uncover children’s interests and develop their talents. Interactions outside the traditional classroom setting build confidence, improve social and personal skills and shape the sense of belonging. This is especially important in a diverse environment where children come from different social backgrounds.
Even the academic skills of the school children can benefit from extraordinary activities. Applying acquired knowledge in a real-life context helps them to contextualise and deepen what they have learnt.
For the coming year, all schools in the Usthi projects will therefore focus on taking up and supporting extracurricular initiatives again.
