Page 250 - Final Draft_Casestudies_17June2019_new

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The key strength of SCLMSS, Lingdong is that, it is the only secondary school in North Sikkim
that has the highest enrollment of students. We have a total of two hundred and forty four (244)
students, out of which one hundred and thirty seven (137) are girls and one hundred and seven
(107) are boys. One hundred and one (101) are in the pre and primary level and the rest i.e one
hundred and forty three (143) constitute the secondary. We keep working with the help of SMCs,
and local bodies like the panchayats, self help groups, etc to increase the enrollment every year.

DistinctIdentity- SCLMSS is a co-education centre where moral values and cultural practices
are carried out extensively. To do this, we have ―Traditional Attires Day‖ every Friday where
each student comes in his or her own traditional dresses. It has becoming a matter of importance
for our society wherein we have forgotten to wear our traditional attire or rather we do not give
importance to them owing to our busy lives and daily schedules.
SCLMSS felt the need to take the initiative of starting and reviving the importance of our
tradition and custom by introducing the traditional dress routine in school every Friday. The
entire school will be dressed in their respective traditional attires including the staff members.
We also had the advantage to start this programme from the school level because of the fact that
the futures of our society are all present in the school and in one group.

On the same day, one house will present a patriotic or a folk song on any language or any
community in the morning assembly. Along with the choir group, the rest will also join them.
With this we not only fulfill and communicate the idea of our community and traditions of our
state but it also gives a sense of unity among the students.

The objective behind these practices is for the need of carrying out and preserving our customs
and traditions inherited from our forefathers to our generation and then further to our future
generations. Through these, the skills and moral values of the students are all sharpened and they
are all able to apply what they learn in school and inculcate in their life.
Equity and Equality The school is located in the Lepcha Tribal zone, a fully Lepcha dominated
area. However, we have children coming from different communities and irrespective of their
caste, creed, community, religion, gender etc; they are all treated equally and in a fair manner.

Challenges-To initiate something new is a challenge in itself. Our school also faced such
challenges while starting this tradition. One reason being the fact that most of our students are
first generation learners and they come from lower middle classes families who are dependent on
agriculture and farming. So to convince their parents to invest and spend much more amounts
than usual on extra new initiatives was a major problem faced during the initial phase. Once
introduced, the problem arose again when they failed to get dressed neatly and correctly to the
school.

However, like the saying goes, ―Practice makes a man perfect‖, now with the help of the
teachers, our students are able to get dressed properly. They have also learnt the importance and
the significance attached to their traditional attires and their customs. They enjoy and know the
values and the ideas related to the ways that they are worn and take pride in wearing their

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