‘Constitution At 70’ Campaign Devised By Delhi Govt. To Engage School Students

The Delhi government is launching a campaign called ‘Constitution at 70’, with the aim of connecting the youth to the values enshrined in the constitution of India, and to imbibe these values in their daily lives. The campaign will reportedly be active from January 25^th to November 26^th 2019.

“On one hand, we have students coming out of schools uninspired and ill-equipped to understand civics issues, on the other hand, communities face governance and development issues that could be addressed only through citizen engagement,” said Deputy Education Minister Manish Sisodia in a letter. He also added that the purpose of the campaign is to connect young citizens to the value enshrined in the Preamble, and make them politically aware and empowered citizens.

The campaign will include students from class 6 to class 12, from both government and private schools in Delhi.  It will be designed around 6 main themes – Justice, Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, Secular, and Democratic.

The letter also added that since the Annual board exams (and also internal exams) will commence from mid-February, general election will likely be held in April-May and mid-term exam for the session 2019-20 will fall during September, the campaign will have to be planned in a staggered manner.

The ‘Constitution at 70’ programs in schools, that are a part of the campaign, will commence in July. The letter states that every week, from July onwards, one Social Science or Political Science period should be used by the students to prepare for the theme of the month, under the guidance of their respective teacher. It also said that the theme of the month would be “centrally decided and communicated in advance.”

The letter given by Sisodia also requests half day activities be conducted in the schools where students can participate in panel discussions, a presentation on their findings, role play, theatre, etc.