BMC schools go the yoga way

In a bid to bring down the dropout rate in municipal schools, the civic body is trying an innovative method to encourage and motivate students.

The Yoga Institute (YI) in Santa Cruz (East) is conducting free yoga sessions for students as well as the teachers of 12 civic schools across 24 administrative wards.

“The dropout rate has gone down. We still don’t have the statistics, but a sound mind has resulted in a sound body,” said Chandrakant Rokde, deputy municipal commissioner (education).

Hansaji Yogendra, director of YI, said that the yoga sessions helped reduce the toxins and thus the students were more alert and able to concentrate on their studies.

“We had found that students from municipal schools had low self-confidence and their anxiety levels were very high. Hence we decided to conduct yoga sessions,” he said, adding that the training is usually carried out for a period of three month.

Yogendra said that a significant change was found in students of Std X. “For instance, there was a boy who would always bunk school and would only come for the yoga sessions. But after two months of training he wanted to change his entire approach to life.”

The teachers or Karma Yogis as they are known, conduct half an hour session with students of Std V to X every day. “We have taught the children to concentrate on their breathing. We usually teach them through skits and stories so that they are entertained as well,” said Amisha Vira, one of the trainers.

“We prescribe a sattvik diet and ask the children to rise early. We are also their confidants. They tell us about their personal problems and we try to help them if we can,” said Bhagyashree Sartande, who trained students at Dr Ambedkar MSS in Worli.
Also, around 500 municipal teachers have been trained by YI.