January 13, 2014

Newspaper in Education

Finding an old newspaper at my parents house this summer brought back old memories. The newspaper was dated back in September 1991, and was a new student edition of Times of India. This program was called Newspaper in Education (NIE) and it was started to encourage school kids to read the newspaper and also printed a section of articles written by students.

During the promotion of this program we had journalists from Times of India visiting us each week in school, talking about the various topics a newspaper would typically cover. It was very inspiring for us as kids. When I did a brief search online, it was heartening to see that the NIE program printing student edition of newspapers is still around.

I have not researched much about whether there are such programs in schools over here. But in the same spirit of keeping kids abreast with the latest news, A's school has a morning news show. The fifth graders who are the seniors in elementary school, run the news show each morning and this is shown live to the kids in various class rooms.

Either way in my opinion, teaching the concept of news right from an early stage opens up many windows to the world for kids.

The old newspaper I found at my parents house was special as it had a poem written by me. Reading it now brings a smile with the memories of the excitement of a school girl.


The Newspaper

Not liking the newspaper seems so strange,
For it has a very interesting range.
The bell of our mind it rings,
And of knowledgeable things it sings.

About the ruling government it tells,
Every rule and regulation it spells.
The advertisements are eye-catching, ooh!
They help us in our projects too.

The sports page can never be missed,
Every line is sure to be kissed.
Crosswords, puzzles, cartoons and jokes,
Certainly thrill the jolly folks.

But this does not form the ultimate,
There is lot more for the cheap rate.
When stale becomes the news of the paper,
It comes in handy as a book wrapper.

2 comments:

Ranjoo said...

Wonderful poetry Madhu.. Loved reading all your recent posts.. Stumbled into them just now.. Cant wait to read everyday :)

Shruthi said...

Ha ha so cute :D Though I didn't know you at that age, I can still imagine you all fired up and writing this :D