TEZU/ROING, 22 Dec: “Arunachalee youths are increasingly coming under the threat of alienation from their own culture and language. Parents and schools must act proactively to save them from this dilemma,” said Anuradha HR, well known theatre and art educator and the head of the Untitled Arts Foundation, Bangalore.
She was sharing her impressions after her 21-day art and theatre workshops at schools and libraries across Lohit and Roing from 2 to 21 December, held at the invitation of the Lohit Youth Library Network. The foundation had in December 2016 conducted a 10-day workshop at Wakro and Tezu in Lohit, jointly with the Lohit DDSE, and at the Abali Government Secondary School in Roing, jointly with the RIWATCH, Kinjili.
Recalling pleasant memories of their 2016 visit, Anuradha said, “From what I’d seen in 2016, parental nurturing and mentoring of children seems to have come down now, and the students are increasingly coming under the influence of social media. This would greatly impair their social interaction abilities,critical thinking and problem-solving skills.”
She also urged schools and educational authorities to pay more attention to promoting life-skills, communication skills, and general exposure to their students. “These alone would make Arunachal students adjust with the social challenges anywhere in India or abroad,” she said.
From 2 to 21 December, Anuradha and her junior colleague Saadrusha conducted a range of training sessions for students from Class 3 to 10. These included workshops on art, reading and theatre, storytelling and storyboard, poetry recitation, creative writing, and image and theatre sessions.
In Lohit, the programmes were held at Bamboosa Library, the Nimkay Vidya Niketan, the Denning Keba Primary School, VKV Tafrogam, VKV Sunpura, APNE Library, Wakro and Government Secondary School, Medo. At the Intaya Public School in Roing, the team guided the teachers in preparing a script and direct a play titled ‘Boy with the Drum’.
The workshop at the Pen-drive School, Roing was organised jointly with the AMYAA NGO and the Forum of Library Activists.
The theatre team also conducted teacher-training workshops on ‘Creative teaching tools’ at the Pen-drive School, Roing and the Nimkay Vidya Niketan, Tezu.
The students at all venues responded enthusiastically to the workshops, while the teachers remarked that the techniques learnt in the workshops were highly stimulating and useful.
