St. Theresa's Convent Sr. Sec. School

St. Theresa's Convent Sr. Sec. School (informally termed, STCS) is a Catholic private school, teaching students in Kindergarten through twelfth grade from Karnal in Haryana, India. STCS is one of the couple of high schools in Karnal with excellent standards of education provided by a Christian convent-run organization, The Sisters of the Little Flower of Bethany based in Mangalore. The school was started in 1961 and has been constantly renovated to the modern building that exists today.

As of the 2007-08 school year, the school had an enrollment of over 3500 students and employs 100 classroom teachers.

History

St. Theresa's Convent School, Karnal was established in 1961 and is administrated by Bethany Educational Society, Mangalore, a Christian Religious Minority Institution. The Bethany Educational Society is registered under the societies' education Act XXI of 1860 No.17 of 1948-49/Its head is at Bethany Convent, Manglore . All the members of Bethany Educational Society are catholic nuns belonging to the Congregation of the Sisters of the Little Flower of Bethany. The Society runs formal and non formal educational institutes all over the country.

Founding of STCS

Rt. Rev. Msgr. Raymond Francis Camillus Mascarenhas, the Founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Little Flower of Bethany, under whose patronage this school was established was consumed by an indefatigable zeal for the education of the poor and marginalized, especially the rural girls. He longed for the total emancipation of Indian women and was convinced that it could not be achieved without education.

His spirit of service was supported by a strong scaffolding of prayer and faith in God. He was a man of great vision and was compassionate towards the poor and marginalized. His penetrating vision enabled him to look far ahead, which directed his work to fulfil the future needs. The school is affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education. New Delhi. (Affiliation No. 530006/86)

St. Therese

Saint Thérèse at age 15, before entering the Carmelite order

St. Therese, also known as 'St. Therese of the child Jesus' was born on 2 January 1873 at Alençon, in Normandy, a small town in northern France . At the age of 15, she entered the convent to be a religious sister.

She died on 30 September 1897 having spent the last nine and half years of her life in a cloister convent at Lisieux in France.

Aims and objectives

The school aims to nurture students in such a dedicated manner so as to make them excellent in whatever they do in their lives. The school aims at promoting quality education in order to provide students with a vision in life. The aims of the school are clearly visible in what the alumni of the school are currently doing. Every pass out from this premier institution is excelling in his or her particular field.

Vision

The school claims to work for education of the poor and marginalized, especially for rural girls.

The Management Council

As of 2013 Sr. Jyoti BS - President
Sr. M. Wilbertaa BS - Vice President
Sr. M. Joy BS - Secretary
Sr. Jeevan BS - Dy. Secretary
Sr. Marie Lyta BS - Treasurer
Sr. M. Assumta BS - Member
Sr. M. Anseline BS - Member
Sr. M. Christella BS - Member
Sr. M. Prima BS - Member
Sr. M. Lillis BS - Member

Student life

A number of events are held in the school from time to time. These include regular stage-assemblies and annual functions. Besides, a number of competitions are held in the school from time to time.

Academics

C.B.S.E. results are usually 100% and many students secure enviable percentages.

Innovative teaching techniques are utilized to promote Academic excellence
1. Regular class tests, ample revision time, extra help to slow learners.
2. Students are encouraged to take part in all academic and informative programs conducted at Inter School, District, State and National level.
3. To enhance memory and retention, students are given a chance to participate in quiz competitions, and the national olympiads (Science, Math, Cyber)
4. Science Club, Bookers Club, Environmental Clubs etc. Conduct various competitions from time to time to create general awareness.
5. To make class room teaching effective, teachers often use Audio Video Aids.

Co-curricular Activities and Sports

Student's Development Program

All the activities that take place thorough out the year are basically students oriented and are directed towards the all around development of students. 1. Class wise and House wise activities are conducted to ensure maximum participation of students.
2. Club activities, Hobby classes, Interaction with general public, Thursday & Friday activities & Tuesday assemblies collectively aim at the multi ferrous growth of the students.
3. Talks by some eminent people in various fields helps the students to give information in respective fields.
4. Creative instincts of the students are nurtured by giving them a chance to decorate class and house bulletin boards periodically.
5. Sports, March Past & P.T. exercal fitness and Mental alertness.
6. Regular carrier guidance to the students X, XI and XII .
7. Meditation, Retreats and regular prayer sessions helps children to develop peace within and control anger.
8. A high-tech English Lab, Computer Lab, Maths Lab and a fully equipped library, Science Laboratories are upgraded from time to time.
9. A skating rink, Lawn tennis court, Basket Ball, Table tennis, Cricket Ground and badminton court. All are available to the students to play the sports of their choice.
10. Little children of Junior school feel a sense of electron & joy watching colourful pictures, catchy captions, hand made paintings adoring the walls of KG section.
11. Orientation Programs for children of High School are arranged so as to get awareness about adolescence helping in future life.

Staff Development Programs

1. Orientation and Seminars are regularly conducted for the staff to face the new challenges in the field of education.
2. Stress Management, Retreats and Prayer sessions are arranged regularly to provide relaxation.
3. Seminars on Total Quality management for education excellence, and for effective teaching in various subjects are conducted regularly.

The Student Council

The student cabinet is responsible for certain activities like helping teachers and other staff, before assembly monitoring of the classes and so on. Earlier the cabinet was actually a representation of the students with voting happening for the selection, however now it pretty much depends on the teachers and the principal as to who gets selected .

Student Organizations

The students grade 3 and above are divided into houses:
1.      Shanti
2.      Shradha
3.      Shakti
4.      Satya
Every student is assigned a house on reaching the 3rd grade and although the sense of belonging continues, but the houses are not observed after the 10th grade. The entire year's activity calendar is made in the beginning of the session and though deviations may occur but the schedule remains pretty much intact. Various competition are organized by the school faculty and the competition is between the houses but can also be among the classes. In addition, every few weeks the bulletin board competition is held where each house and class decorates its bulletin board on the topic chosen and then the winners are announced much to the delight of everyone. Finally at the end of the year each house's marks are summed based on the year-long performance and the annual winner is announced.

Students Leaders in School Student Council /Organisation

List of Leaders in Student Council

Alumni

The students from this school after pursuing higher education have found employment in various Organisation and Institutions. Some are employed in Govt. Deptts, Public and Pvt. Enterprises such as; Railways, MES, IITs,^[1] CPWD, PWD (B & R), PWD Irrigation, PWD (Public Health), Pollution Control Board, Housing Boards, HUDA, HSEB, MITC, Panchayat Raj, and some has started their own enterprises. Students of this institutes have also been able enter other countries as well i.e. Eritrea, Dubaietc.

Challenges Faced

The main problem being faced by the school from the past so many years is the falling standards. Being the premier high school in the district, the school faces many hurdles including downright outrageous rumors to even jealousy motivated plotting by rival institutions. The admission process is very strict and the places limited despite the best efforts of the administration; which means that not everyone who wants their child to be a Theresean, gets their wish fulfilled.

"Local Brain Drain" due to stricter norms

As is common in India, students in the last two years of school, tend to focus more on the post-school competitive exams that they must take in order to get into renowned higher education institutions, this however, means that they are likely to overlook the school curriculum and board exam preparations. The school has a very strict attendance policy and very slight exceptions are made only for bright students who are considered by the teaching staff as capable of juggling the two. Rival schools tend to jump at this opportunity to lure the polished minds and offer them incentives like false attendance in order to allow them to pursue competitive exam preparations alone. This greatly reflects in the difference between the school and its rivals in the matter of exam selections. Despite this sad fact, the school maintains integrity and does not stop to the level of just giving in and allowing undue laxity. True Thereseans however, stay and enjoy the last two years of high school .

References

1. ↑ http://civil.iitd.ac.in/index.php?lmenuid=staff