Soon, free ‘hobby hubs’ in all Delhi government schools

Aiming to promote extracurricular activities among school children, the Delhi government plans to set up “Hobby Hubs” in government schools under which private entities, NGOs or individuals will be allowed to use its premises to impart free training to school students in activities like music, dance and art and craft.

Under the proposed scheme, initially, training will be provided to students in single-shift schools after school hours.

The directorate of education (DoE) on Wednesday invited online applications from NGOs and academies imparting training in these activities. Prospective applicants can fill out forms till May 6. “Academies/individuals/NGOs will have to provide free of cost training to students of the schools of Directorate of Education,” the DoE said in its circular issued on Wednesday.

The circular said that the organisations can only charge fee from private students, provided that they ensure at least 50% receiving training are from the government school concerned. “Students of the school concerned shall not be denied admission into the hobby classes being provided in their own school, even if the number of government school students exceeds 50% of total students enrolled,” the circular added.

Awadhesh Kumar Jha, principal, Sarvodaya Co-ed Vidyalaya, Rohini, Sector 8, said that while extracurricular clubs were running in schools prior to the pandemic, the Hobby Hubs initiative was aimed at reorienting the mindset of the students towards job creation and entrepreneurship. “In our society, we do not look beyond academics. This initiative will allow students to get skilled in various activities and recognise their creative strengths. They can even choose to pursue their careers in their fields and create jobs for others,” said Jha.