Centre to organise study tour for students from across India to Modi’s school for ‘Prerna’

The Centre has decided that over the next year, two children from each district across the country will be sent to the primary school in Vadnagar, Mehsana district of Gujarat, to attend inspirational classes, where PM Narendra Modi received his elementary education.  

Announcing the details of the week-long study tour, the Centre said the school will be developed as an inspirational school for the students and will be named ‘Prerna: The Vernacular School’. Under the programme, the students will be trained on “how to live a very evolved life”. The programme is a joint initiative by the central and state governments, a report in The Indian Express said. 

PM Modi's school, which was built in 1888 and was functional till 2018, has been restored by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). The school renovation is part of the mega redevelopment plan for Vadnagar. 

“There is a school in Vadnagar where our Prime Minister had taken his elementary education. It is a 19th century school… We are developing this school as an inspirational-experiential school,” a senior official told The Indian Express. He added that the school will get its first batch of students later this year. 

As per the details of the programme, each batch will have 30 students who will be given residential training for a week. The cost of accommodation and transport will be borne by the Union culture ministry. The training will be based on the concept of “Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat”. 

“There are 750 districts in India and two children from each district (will be sent)… we will train a total of 1,500 children in the entire year on how to live a very evolved life…We want the first batch out in the current year itself,” the senior official added. 

The concept note for the project highlights: “Great leaders across the world have acknowledged their first school as a catalyst in their inspirational journey to cause change… Based on the vision of the Prime Minister, this first-of-its-kind school redevelopment project Prerna is being undertaken to inspire the youth of the county to become catalysts of change… It is envisioned to be a school of the future but with an impetus to education and values, imparted using various techniques and technologies.” 

An official in the ministry said that though nothing has been finalised yet, the educational trip would mostly be for students of Classes 9-10. The selection process will start soon, for which the students’ “intellectual level, creativity and extra-curricular performance will be put to test,” said the officials.  

“It is not teaching. It is all experience,” said a senior official, adding that the training will include exposure to “virtues of life like courage and compassion through the lives and teachings of real-life heroes”. 

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