1,500 students took to the streets as part of the Walk to School program

Students from six Sanjay Nagar schools participated in the Walk to School event held on November 5th. The initiative encourages school children to be active, and in turn be more aware about their neighbourhood.

For the first time in Bengaluru, the Walk to School (W2S) program was conducted successfully in Sanjaynagar. 1,500 children from six schools participated in the program by walking to school from their homes on Saturday November 5th. Those living further away and typically travelling by bus or other vehicles, were dropped off at common points a few kilometres away, and walked to school in groups.

Pic: Manju George

It was surprising to see that instead of complaining that they had to wake up early and walk to school on a cold morning, the children were excited and happy to walk. Their enthusiasm was infectious. All the children walking wore caps with the message “Let’s walk for a better Bengaluru.” And as a result, the roads of Sanjaynagar witnessed a sea of blue on Saturday morning.

The following schools participated in the program:

  1. Akai Public School
  2. Daffodils English School
  3. Pavithra VIdyanikethana
  4. Sandeepani Niketan
  5. Shikshasagar High school
  6. SYA High School

CiFoS executed this event in partnership with ESAF Bangalore, with supported from B.PAC, Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT), Bangalore Traffic Police (BTP) and BCOS.

The W2S program met the following objectives:

  • Reduction in pollution
  • Reduction in traffic congestion
  • Walking has lot of health benefits. Children can benefit as they get enough physical activity as per WHO recommendation to avoid life style diseases.
  • Along with the children, parents are also sensitised regarding walking short distances.
  • When parents walk with the children, it gives them an opportunity to interact with them and spend quality time with them.
  • Children observe their neighbourhood when they walk and they get a feel of what is good and what needs to be improved.
  • When children are conscious about the good and bad in their neighbourhood, at a later stage, they may take interest in involving themselves in the upkeep of their neighborhood.

Snapshots from the event

Pictures courtesy: Manju George

People speak

“I walked from RT Nagar to Sanjaynagar. I felt very good, walking is such fun. Walking with my parents was really very good. I would like to walk every week to school.” – Balaji, 6th standard student

“I was very happy my daughter got up early by herself and wanted to walk to school. Saved me a lot of headache of screaming and getting them ready to go to school.” – Roopa Naik, mother of a 6th standard student.

Related Articles

Charting a safe route for school children in Bengaluru

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Similar Story

Mumbai ‘leader mothers’ creating milestones in early education programme

Pratham's Mothers Groups for Nipun Maharashtra programme involves mothers to enable children to achieve functional literacy and numeracy.

One of the most important goals under NEP 2020  is to achieve universal foundational literacy and numeracy in primary schools by the year 2025. The Ministry of Education started the National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN) Bharat in July 2021. The goal is to enable children to attain basic foundational skills by the time they reach Class III. The Ministry aims to achieve this by 2026-27. Read more: Students detained in spare classroom: Who pays when school fees become unaffordable? Pratham's Leader Mother for NIPUN Maharashtra programme Pratham, an NGO established in 1995, has been working…

Similar Story

“Blood. Sweat. Tears. Repeat”: What NEET aspirants are in for as NTA bungles

The future of 24 lakh students is at stake, and teachers predict a tough next year too. Experts call for urgent reforms in the NEET exam.

What does the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) mean to the 23.8 lakh students aspiring to become doctors? "Blood, sweat, tears, repeat" — this is how a second year MBBS student described her years of preparation for the NEET, while studying in classes 11th and 12th. At least a year before that is consumed by anxiety, decision-making, determination and planning for the preparation. And, all this does not include the financial aspect, which amounts to lakhs and sometimes even crores.   Shalmali (name changed) is a second-year MBBS student in the Government Medical College in Dhule. She recounts the long…