By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Aug 21: More than 2,600 students of Meghalaya have benefitted from the School Programmes in Articulation, Resilience and Kindness (SPARK), an initiative under the Education department aimed at bringing about all-round development of children by imparting to them foundational soft skills in government-run schools across the state.
According to a statement here, as part of the pilot phase of the initiative, a team of trainers and field officers have visited various parts of the state since April 2024, facilitating interventions that build confidence, basic communication skills, STEM awareness and well-being in schoolchildren.
“On 16th August 2024, over 700 students in 4 campuses across 3 districts were felicitated upon completing their ten-day SPARK workshop in their respective schools, which brought the total number of participating campuses to 15 schools in 12 districts. The participants included 142 students of Ampati Government Higher Secondary School, Ampati, and 108 students of Chiringpara RMSA Secondary School, Chiringpara in South West Garo Hills, 280 students of Government Girls’ Higher Secondary School, Jowai in West Jaintia Hills, and 185 students of Alpha English Higher Secondary School, Nongpoh in Ri-Bhoi,” the statement said. During a programme at Ampati Government Higher Secondary School, Eprin G Marak, a class 9 student, while sharing his experience, remarked, “I have learnt so much from SPARK but my favourite lessons were on Values and First Impressions. Whenever I was asked to speak before, I would hesitate because I was scared. Even when I spoke, my body language was always negative. But today, I am trying my best to speak clearly and confidently.”
South West Garo Hills Deputy Commissioner Hema Nayak, who was part of the programme, interacted at length with the students.
“Programmes like SPARK give schools in remote districts like ours the exposure they need to such knowledge,” she said, adding, “Do not distance yourself from what you learn outside school. Everything you do in daily life has something to do with Science, Maths and Language.”
She also urged the students to work on their skill sets and not only look at the gaps.
Similarly, at Alpha English Higher Secondary School, Lambhameki Marwein, a class 8 student, recalled how the programme changed his approach toward confidence.
“I thought I was always confident to speak in public; and when SPARK came, I found myself to be very shy on stage. I realised I was just overconfident before — but now I have learnt to prepare well and speak from the heart. I thank the trainers for helping me gain confidence every day,” Marwein said.
Ri-Bhoi Deputy Commissioner Abhilash Baranwal, who was also part of the programme, encouraged the students to fight their stage fright, while sharing inspiring instances from his own life.
“Unlike cycling or swimming, skills like confidence and courage need regular exercising,” he said, urging the training team to initiate a follow-up framework in collaboration with the schools to handhold students after completing the workshops.
“These efforts will go a long way into ultimately enabling you to become good citizens of this state and country,” he added.
The felicitation programmes were also attended by other officials as well as members of the implementing agency, Avenues, and school staff.
“The impact of the SPARK programmes has been assessed using two methodologies – self-assessments by the participants and observations by teachers during in-class demonstrations. These evaluations were conducted and recorded at the start and end of each ten-day workshop for each student in all campuses. It may be mentioned that an analysis and study of the findings will be published to aid future iterations and provide policy inputs to stakeholders within the Department of Education,” the statement said.