Global Awareness Programme – GAP

Global Awareness Programme (GAP) is conducted in our school under the guidance of Mr. Giri Balasubramaniam fondly called ‘Pickbrain’. It is a programme conducted for the students of classes from 4 to 7 to bring about an interest in quizzing and current affairs.

Every month each student gets a booklet which covers the current issues of the previous month, about various events, personalities and birthdays of famous people and so on. Three levels are prescribed based on the interest and the level of the students.

Two teacher coordinators and few other teachers handle these classes. A worksheet is given to the students at the end of the month to check on the interest levels and they are graded at the end of each term. These classes are made interesting with discussions, information sharing etc. and an interclass GAP competition creates the much wanted competitive spirit to face the final competition.

In the month of January an inter-school GAP quiz competition is conducted by ‘Pickbrain’ himself. The turnout is encouraging and students are selected for the same by the schools. A trophy is presented to the winning school and certificates are awarded to the winners.

Brain Drain

When one thinks of great quiz masters, three people come to mind. Siddharth Basu, who in the 1980 introduced quizzing and helped create it into a national obsession, Derek O’ Brian, who captured the imagination of children around India and Giri Balasubramaniam, who continues with the tradition of quizzing on a grand scale.

What then can we ask are the markings of a great quiz master? An affable demeanor, knowledgeable and very essentially, should be able to create an environment in which children or participants can share be heard and embark on a journey of discovery. Quizzers are aplenty but not many are trained to become good quiz masters.

To help create good quiz masters, Kumarans in collaboration with ‘Grey Caps’ has initiated a programme, which allows children of senior classes to don the mantle of quiz masters. Under the able guidance of teachers they create quizzes and conduct them.

This programme is named ‘Brain Drain’. The quizzes created and conducted compel the students to think and answer. The quizzers force the information out of their well stocked minds. A win-win situation for all – quizzers as well as quiz masters.

Inter-Kumaran Quiz Programme

What Ranji Trophy is to cricket, the Inter-Kumaran Quiz is to quizzing. Both are arenas where talented youngsters practise and compete with each other preparing themselves for the larger quiz shows where they would vie with other schools. The Kumaran family is a large family, comprising the CBSE, ICSE and the State Boards. The children of these three streams meet on a regular basis to lock horns and sharpen their wits. To remove any tint of partiality, an external quiz master conducts these quizzes. This exposure helps them to be prepared mentally for all quiz shows.

The school sends its delegation of quizzers to a number of competitions like the TCS Quiz, the Exquisite Quiz conducted by Bishop Cottons, the CBSE Heritage Quiz, the GAP Quiz and many more. The school exults when the teams return triumphant while encouraging the others to prepare and perform better the next time round. These training grounds stand them in good stead.

The school feels great honour in presenting these programmes to the children. It also feels an innate sense of pride in watching little people grow and blossom into aware citizens.