Srinagar, Aug 29: To explore the potential of children to build and sustain a creative ecosystem for the development of toys and games for becoming self-reliant, the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) Jammu and Kashmir, under the guidance of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, has launched Toycathon 2023 with the theme line “Promotion of innovative ideas and revival of local heritage, in which 123,728 school students have registered themselves in this initiative.
Director of SCERT J&K, Prof Parikshat Singh Manhas said that under the guidance of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) Jammu and Kashmir has launched the Toycathon initiative in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. “A total of 123,728 schools students across 20 districts of the union territory have already completed their registration under this Toycathoon 2023 Initiative from grades 5 to 12,” Prof. Manhas said.
Director SCERT J&K said that Toycathoon 2023 has the theme “Promotion of Innovative Ideas and Revival of Local Heritage. It’s an initiative that celebrates creativity, curiosity, and, above all, innovation.
“Toycathon 2023 is presently conducting this event for the participation of the students in three categories: Category I for 6th–8th, Category II for 9th–10th, and Category III for 11th–12th. The aim of the toycathon is to explore the potential of JKUT to wield and sustain the creative ecosystem for the development of games and toys to celebrate Atamnirbhar Bharat,” he said. Prof Manhas said that from grade 6 to 8, 74,869 students have registered themselves in the first category; in the second category, 37,794 students from 9th and 10th grade have registered; and in the third category, 11,065 students from 11th and 12th grade have registered in this category. 5,628 schools from 20 districts of the Jammu and Kashmir Union Terrority have organised and submitted school-level competition reports.
“From next month, September, we are also going to start the district-level competition from September 1 to September 10 across Jammu and Kashmir. After the district-level competition gets fully completed, we are going to conduct the grand finale at the union territory level in the month of September, in which the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha will also attend the grand finale competitions at the UT-level,” he said.
Director SCERT said that the toys and games that complement cultural ethos and tradition and become instrumental in the revival of local heritage need to be conceptualised as working prototypes. The students have made toys and games upon the various themes, which include: 1. regional culture—historical events, heritage, and regional freedom fighters; 2. out-of-the-box creative, logical, and scientific thinking; 3. learning, education, and schooling; 4 social and human values; 5 occupations and specific fields in the environment; 6 rediscovering traditional local toys; 7 any toy or game applicable for a specially abled child; 8 fun-based toys for joyful learning; and others. Each school will have a competition of its own, and the top three entries will be submitted to their respective DIETs for the next participation. The top 50 entries in each category, i.e., a total of 150 entries from each district, will be scrutinised in online mode for exhibition at the district level.
The top entries in each category—a total of nine entries from each district—will be selected for the exhibition at the union territory grand finale. The top three games or toys in each category will be awarded prizes alongside the seven consolidated prizes in each category at the UT level, and a certificate of participation will also be given to each participant at the union territory level.
