Fit India School Week 2021at S.M.A. Ajmer
The Fit India Movement was launched on 29th August, 2019 by our honourable Prime Minister with a view to make fitness an integral part of our daily lives. The mission of the Movement is to bring about behavioural changes and move towards a more physically active lifestyle. Towards achieving this mission, Fit India proposes to undertake various initiatives and conduct events to achieve the following objectives:
- To promote fitness as easy, fun and free.
- To spread awareness on fitness and various physical activities that promotes fitness through focused campaigns.
- To encourage indigenous sports.
- To make fitness reach every school, college/university, panchayat/village, etc.
- To create a platform for citizens of India to share information, drive awareness and encourage sharing of personal fitness stories.
The Department of Sports, MYAS in collaboration with Department of School Education and Literacy, M/o Education started Fit India School Week soon after the inception of Fit India Movement in 2019 with an aim to integrate fitness as an essential part of school education where physical fitness is taught and practiced, apart from homes. Fit India School Week is being considered as a flagship program of Fit India Mission.
Schools have welcomed this concept of celebrating 4 to 6 days of a week dedicated to fitness with the objective to instil the importance of fitness not only in students but also amongst their families, teachers and entire school staff. In the 2nd edition from December 2020 to January 2021, a surge was seen in the celebrations of Fit India School Week where more than 4.3 lakh schools have reported the celebrations which were 15,000 in the 1st edition.
As India is celebrating Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav (AKAM), the 3rd edition of Fit India School Week is dedicated to the commemoration of AKAM in schools highlighting importance of fitness in today’s time. It is planned to rejuvenate students in schools after the pandemic by providing them a pathway to inculcate the habit of fitness in new and innovative ways. In St. Mary’s Convent Sr. Sec. School, Ajmer also many related activities were organized while maintaining Covid appropriate behaviour and following the protocol with complete seriousness, under the guidance of the Principal, Sr. Anusha.
The Fitness Week in the School kick started on an exciting note with an inauguration ceremony. Samreen Chhabra and Divija Maheshwari of Class X danced gracefully to make the event a memorable one.
The second day was marked by thought provoking speeches (lectures) by Ma’am Elvira Fernandez of the English Department and Ma’am Poonam Chouhan of the Hindi Department emphasising the Importance of Fitness. The day also saw the active participation of Classes VII A, B, C and D who competed in Essay writing and Poem writing competitions organized on the topic ‘My Fitness Mantra on Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’.
Students of Classes VIII A, B, C and D participated enthusiastically in a poster making competition on the topic ‘Freedom from Sedentary Lifestyle’.
On the third day, the School’s Physical Training Instructors Ma’am Jennifer and Sir Mohsin Khan involved the students in several traditional games like sitoliya (seven stones), dog and the bone, etc. to encourage them to play these games regularly and keep our traditional games alive. The later part of the day witnessed a Power Point Presentation by Ma’am Veena Gurnani on Eat right/ Santulit Aahar through which students were encouraged to follow a healthy diet plan and consume essential nutrients.
The fourth day was dedicated to fulfilling social responsibility towards creating awareness about Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. Our School’s physical training instructor, Sir Mohsin Khan visited the Government Primary School in Liali Kheda village, Pisanganj and organized various events pertaining to Fit India Movement such as creating awareness among the young students about the importance of this movement, benefits of fitness, balanced diet as well as a progressive career in sports. A teacher of the school, Mr. Hemant Dhariwal expressed gratitude to St. Mary’s Convent School, Ajmer for the commendable efforts and contribution towards generating interest in their students.
Day Five saw the presence of a very special person in the School campus, Mr. Prashant who is a yoga expert. He has a Masters Degree in Physical education from L.N.I.P.E. Gwalior. He guided the students in various yoga postures and enlightened them about the benefits of practising yoga regularly. The students participated eagerly in the yoga and meditation sessions conducted. The Principal, Sr. Anusha later felicitated the special guests by presenting them with Fit India T-shirts, caps and the School mementoes.
The students also created interesting graffiti art on the topics – ‘What is Azadi for you?’ and ‘How important is Fitness?’ The students, Akshara (Class XI) and Syeda Hurmath Fatima (Class XII) brought out interesting messages of Women’s freedom and Fitness through their works.
Ma’am Bini later in the day conducted a session on Mental Health Awareness for the students.
The last day of the week witnessed the Principal, Staff and Students taking an oath pertaining to Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav and Fit India School Week to stay fit and encourage all family, friends and neighbours to participate in physical fitness activities regularly. The oath was administered by Kanishka Kumawat of Class XI.
At the end, Sr. Principal thanked the various in-charges and the physical training instructors for their dedicated efforts during the week. The Principal also awarded the participants, winners of competitions, organizers and others who played an important role during the week with Fit India T-shirts, caps and other prizes.