Vice President to give away prizes of the 21st National Youth Parliament Competition for Kendriya Vidyalayas

Shri Mohammad Hamid Ansari, the Vice President of India will be the Chief Guest at the Prize Distribution Function of the 21st National Youth Parliament Competition, 2008-2009 for Kendriya Vidyalayas being held tomorrow in New Delhi and will give away the prizes to the winners of the Competition.

The students of Kendriya Vidyalaya, CLRI, Chennai, which stood first in the competition, will present a short sitting of “Youth Parliament” on the occasion.The Vidyalayas and students who secured positions in the competitions will be awarded, shields, trophies and certificates during the Prize Distribution Function. The Running Parliamentary Shield and Trophy for standing first at National Level will be awarded to Kendriya Vidyalaya, CLRI, Chennai. Besides, trophies will also be awarded to 5 Vidyalayas which stood first in their respective zones and 12 Vidyalayas which stood first in their respective regions. Under the scheme of Youth Parliament, 21st National Youth Parliament Competition for Kendriya Vidyalayas in the series was organized during 2008-2009 with 90 schools participating.

The competition was held in two stages, first at the regional level and then at the national level. The position of regional winner was determined on the basis of evaluation of performance for the national level. The Vidyalayas, which stood first in their respective regions, then competed at the national level.

Teams of judges which inter-alia included MPs/Ex-MPs alongwith officers of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan evaluated the presentations. On the basis of the evaluation, Kendriya Vidyalaya, CLRI, Chennai was declared winner at the National Level. Youth Parliament Competition was started by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs in the schools under the Directorate of Education, Government of NCT of Delhi and NDMC in1966.

In 1978, Kendriya Vidyalayas situated in and around Delhi were included in the competition alongwith the Delhi schools. In 1988, a separate National Youth Parliament Scheme for Kendriya Vidyalayas was introduced as a part of the celebrations of 40 years of India’s Independence and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s birth centenary. In 1997-98, two more national competitions, one for Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas and the other for Universities and Colleges were introduced as a part of the celebrations to commemorate 50 years of India’s Independence.

The Youth Parliament Scheme aims at inculcating the spirit of self-discipline, tolerance of diverse opinion, righteous expression of views and other virtues of democratic way of life in the younger generation. Besides the scheme also acquaints the students with the practices and procedures of Parliament, techniques of discussion and debate and develops in them the quality of leadership.