R-Day 2024: National School Band Competition Held To Evoke Patriotism Among School Children

New Delhi: The Ministry of Defence, in collaboration with Ministry of Education, conducted a National School Band Competition at All-India level for Republic Day Celebrations 2024 in order to evoke feelings of patriotism, unity and evoke a deep sense of pride among the school children towards their country.

The Grand Finale of the competition took place at Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, New Delhi on January 21 & 22, 2024.

PM SHRI School Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Suratgarh, Sriganganagar, Rajasthan; St. Teresa's Higher Secondary School, Kannur, Kerala; Droupadi Girls High School, Nishaposi, Mayurbhanj, Odisha and Govt. Sr. Secondary School, West Point, Gangtok, Sikkim were declared winners in Pipe Band Boys, Brass Band Girls, Pipe Band Girls and Brass Band Boys categories respectively.

Secretary, Department of School Education and Literacy Sanjay Kumar gave away the cash prizes to the winners along with a trophy, and certificates. The jury appointed by the Ministry of Defence, which included members from each wing of the Armed Forces, selected the winners of the competition upon the culmination of the grand finale held on January 21 & 22, 2024.

In addition to the participating teams, there was a special performance by Government Sardar Patel Senior Secondary School, Kalpeni, Lakshadweep.
The competition was organised at three levels viz. State, Zonal and conducted by all the States/Union Territories (UTs) for all schools (CBSE, ICSE, KVS, NVS, and Sainik schools etc).

Four hundred and eighty-six (486) teams, comprising 12,857 children, participated at the State-Level Competition, while 73 teams of 2,002 children took part at the Zonal Level. Four hundred and fifty-seven (457) students of schools from 15 States/Union Territories took part in the Grand Finale. This competition was aimed at rejuvenating the spirit of patriotism and unity amongst children in schools throughout the country and motivating them on the path of holistic education. (With inputs from ANI)