“All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”
In the 21st century, the pure academic type of education that students are introduced to, is steadily paving way to a whole new type of education with a special focus to incorporate three major genres of education: reasoning, psychomotor and emotional learning.
Education is a pretty broad concept that surpasses the four walls of classroom. The core aim of education is to foster all round development of a child. All round development essentially means intellectual, physical, moral, sensible and social development. All round development can be achieved only through education. Education plays a fundamental role in the making of a man and his development as a culturally developed social animal. To fulfil these objectives, there is a prime need of striking balance between syllabus, curriculum, books and also co-curricular activities beyond that.
Co-curricular activities are those which are undertaken side by side with the curricular activities. A co-curricular activity essentially takes place outside a typical pen and pencil classroom experience. It gives the students an opportunity to develop particular skills and exhibit their non-academic abilities.
A Chinese proverb very aptly states, “Teach me, and I will forget. Show me, and I might remember. Involve me, and I will never forget.” To a very great extent, the theoretical knowledge is enhanced when a co-curricular activity related to the content taught, is organised. Intellectual development of the personality is achieved to a great extent, in the classroom itself. But the aesthetic development like character building, spiritual and moral values, physical growth, creativity and many more are backed up by co-curricular activities only. Co-curricular activities render a number of values like:
SOME MAJOR BENEFITS OF EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
Overall Personality: It helps enhance the all-round personality of the students to strongly face the turbulent road of the future. Experience and appreciation gained through these activities assist students during internships and other sponsored programs.
Strengthened Self-confidence: The goal of co-curricular activities is to give better fitness to students and inculcate a sense of sportsmanship, competitive spirit, leadership, meticulousness, cooperation and team spirit. The hidden motive behind all this is to develop self-confidence and to learn to trust the team.
Develop specialised skills: Co-curricular activities help hone the talents of the young minds and gives them an opportunity to develop their specialised skills. Competitions that are organised can create a competitive environment and help them work towards the objective of achieving a better society.
Improved academic performance: Studies have shown that students pursuing their hobbies, achieved better results in their studies. Their academic performance goes way up north as they learn to balance co-curricular activities with their academic pursuits. They also better understand on how to manage their time efficiently and also increases their interest in the school. Such activities like participation in debates, drama, music, sports etc. help in achieving bigger purpose of achieving better education.
Greater Opportunities: In this competitive era, percentages acts as game changers during admission into various courses. Students pursuing any co-curricular activities of their choice are given preference over those who are not involved in any such things. These things make a major difference when students are considered for the most popular courses.
Sense of responsibility: When students in their early teens are given some responsibility or a task to handle like first aid or for better managing the class painting board, their efficiency to handle such situations becomes much better. This fosters a sense of responsibility and accountability.
Exposure to new activities: Students are introduced to a whole new horizon of activities that gives them a better insight and lets them choose what they enjoy and what they wish to learn. It broadens new horizons for them. These activities stimulate playing, painting, acting, dancing, singing and speaking skills in students.
The rewards of co-curricular activities in schools have been researched pretty well and it is now ascertained that students who participate in these activities show higher academic results, stronger relationship in schools and more likely to lead a healthy and active lifestyle. Students also feel a sense of belonging to the school and have higher self-esteem by participating in structured activities like music, dance, performing arts, etc.
