About National Bal Shree Honour Scheme
Creativity brings new thoughts, new ideas, and a new world. – These have the potential to revolutionize the world and humanity. When the idea of making a wheel first struck the human mind, it was creativity at its zenith, which was to change the course of the world forever. Creativity is not just about art, it is about everything that relates to mankind. There can be a limit to discovery and research, for these can be done only on that which exists but creativity is limitless and knows no bounds.
Lack of awareness about the importance of creativity often leads to creative children being ignored or their creativity being crushed by engaging them in mundane tasks. It is important to identify creativity at an early stage, for it is like a seed, which given proper environment for its germination, grows and develops. It was to recognize and tap this creativity in children, hidden or apparent, that the Bal Shree Scheme was conceived in 1993. After working out its modalities, it was finally launched in 1995.
In Hindi the word ‘Bal’ means a child and ‘Shree’ denotes elegance, grace, fame and is also used as a halo or aura of glory. ‘Shree’ also stands for Goddess of Wealth and Goddess of Knowledge. Therefore, the epithet ‘Bal Shree’ was considered to be the most appropriate for defining the attributes of those very creative young ones, who possess unmatchable qualities, unique approach and innovative ways and thereby they not only enrich the society but also cover themselves with glory. Such children are an asset to society and therefore, they are honoured as Bal Shree.
NORMS
Norms of National Bal Shree Honour Scheme
1. The participant must not be below 9 years nor above 16 years of age as on 1st April of the year of participation.
2. The three age groups would be 9 to 11 years, 11 to 14 years and 14 to 16 years. The age group will be decided on the basis of age as on 1st April of the year of participation.
3. As has been regularly intimated to State Bal Bhavans since 2001, a child can participate in Bal Shree selection process a maximum of 2 times, be it at any level (Local, Zonal or National), that too provided the stream or age group is different at the time of participation for the second time. A Bal Shree Awardee is debarred from participating again in the Bal Shree selection process.
4. One and a half day Local Bal Shree Camp is mandatory and should be organized by each affiliated State Bal Bhavan/Bal Kendra, having three sessions with proper activity tools and evauation system in the first/second week of July.
5. Participation of children in the Local Level screening, as per the norms of the scheme, would entirely be the responsibility of State Bal Bhavans/Bal Kendras conducting the local level selection process. Any misleading information on part of the State Bal Bhavans or the children nominated by the State Bal Bhavans may cause cancellation of the affiliation of the defaulting State Bal Bhavan and cancellation of the nomination of the child, whose information has been wrongly furnished.
6. Results of Local Level Bal Shree selection process of each of the affiliated Bal Bhavans/Bal Kendras, along with the tools adopted, bio- datas of the resource persons involved in selection and the nomination form of selected candidates must reach National Bal Bhavan latest by 31st July. Nominations received after the month of July will not be considered by National Bal Bhavan for the Zonal Selection Camps.
7. State Bal Bhavans with affiliated Bal Kendras must ensure that nominations of these Bal Kendras too are sent after following a similar selection pattern and these children are among the 8 children to be nominated by the affiliated Bal Bhavans. No additional nomination by Bal Kendras, not affiliated to the National Bal Bhavan, is permissible.
8. No new nomination will be accepted in case of cancellation of previously nominated candidate, while scrutinizing the form or due to any other unforeseen reason/s.
9. In the states where there is no Bal Bhavan, National Bal Bhavan would request Chief Secretaries of the respective states to nominate children.
10. To ensure greater participation of special category children, affiliated to Bal Bhavan as well as chief secretaries of states, would be invited to nominate two children per stream in the general category and one in the special category (if any). Thus nine (8+1) children can be nominated by affiliated Bal Bhavans and chief secretaries. Similarly affiliated Bal Kendras may nominate five (4+1) children i.e. 1 child per stream plus 1 child from the special category.
11. Affiliated Bal Bhavans are required to submit an undertaking on Rs. 10/- stamp paper about the authenticity of the child’s name, age, date of birth and number of attempts made by the participant, along with the attested copy of date of birth certificate. In addition an undertaking on Rs. 10/- stamp paper will also be taken from parents stating that they would accept the decision of the jury as final.
12. While nominating children it must be ensured by the nominating party that the child is truly creative, innovative and imbibed with originality.
13. For Zonal Level, the zonal centre of the Bal Shree Camp will send in Bio-datas of four resource persons. Care must be taken to ensure that bio-datas of only such resource persons are sent who have not been involved in the local level selection and who are not, in any way, related to any child participating in the Zonal Level selection.
14. Participation alone doesn’t ensure selection. Selection would depend on the level of creativity of the participants and therefore, selection should not be a foregone conclusion.
15. The external resource persons (Jury Members) who will judge participants at Local/Zonal/National Levels should be eminent creative persons from the concerned streams in which they will be judging the children and should have experience in dealing with children. They should be able to identify the spark of creativity and be able to differentiate between skill and creativity.
16. For every stream there should be experts of different fields of art, performance, writing and science so that the participant’s creativity in various forms can be evaluated properly.
17. The selection of the Jury for the National Level is the prerogative of the National Bal Bhavan. The decision of the Jury will be final at all levels and no contention in this regard will be entertained.
18. There will be a maximum of 25 honours for children of general category (the present number is 60 but since National Bal Bhavan is getting more participation after National Level Advertisement and through Chief Secretaries, the increase in the maximum number in general category would help honour more creative children). In addition, honours for orphaned children/children with special needs and tribal children will be reserved, depending on participation and level of participation. If children with special needs and a normal child are judged at the same level, preference would be given to the child with special needs.
19. All decisions regarding Bal Shree selection procedures/dates/venue will be taken by National Bal Bhavan and will be binding to all participants/State Bal Bhavans/Bal Kendras.
PARTICIPATION
Participation in National Bal Shree Honour Scheme
(a) Any child between the age group of 9-16 years can participate in this scheme either through
a State Bal Bhavan or through the National Bal Bhavan, or can approach through his school or
in his/her individual capacity.
(b) Three age groups have been earmarked for participation:
(i) 9(+) to (-)11 years
(ii) 14(+) to (-)16 yearsNote:
1st April of the year of participation is taken as the cut-off date for reckoning the age of the participant.
Mode of Selection
The selection of creative children in four areas is done at three levels:
1. Local Level (by respective Bal Bhavans)
2. Zonal Level (The National Bal Bhavan identifies the Zonal Centre)
3. National Level (At National Bal Bhavan)
Local Level:-
At this level National Bal Bhavan and all affiliated State Bal Bhavans undertake preliminary screening for selecting candidates for zonal level selection camp. A 2- days camp for member children is organized at State Bal Bhavans. After local selection 8 children (2 in each stream) are nominated by the 11(+) to (-) 14 years affiliated Bal Bhavans for their respective zonal level selection camps. An additional nomination is sent in case the nominee is a child of special needs or from tribal areas.
Zonal Level:-
The country has been divided into different zones – North, East, West, Central, and South. As there are a large number of Bal Bhavans in the southern region, South Zone has further been divided into two zones – South-I and South-II Zones. Every year different Zonal Centres are identified for organizing zonal selection camps. As there are certain states where there are no Bal Bhavans, representation of these states are ensured through the Chief Secretaries of these states. Children selected at the local levels participate in these 3-days zonal level camps where the second round of selections is made by local experts, specialists from the Zone and National Bal Bhavan. The local resource persons are thoroughly briefed by the National Bal Bhavan before the start of the camps.
National Level:-
This is the final level where the qualifying students from different zones are provided a common platform to prove their creativity in their respective fields at the 4-days National Level Camp held at the National Bal Bhavan. New Delhi. A panel of experts and resource persons drawn from the various streams is identified to administer the tests. In the National Level camp the psychological tests are also conducted by experts. These include verbal tests and tests on creativity. On the basis of these tests and other tools, the children are finally selected.
Criteria of Selection
(a) Originality
(b) Innovative approach
(c) Fluency
(d) Flexibility
(e) Divergent thinking
(f) Elaboration of ideas
(g) Creative process culminating into meaningful product
(h) Effective functioning in the group
(i) Analytical and critical approach
Tools used for selection of children
There are two types of tools used for selection of children
1. Activity related tools
2. Psychological tests
Activity Related Tools
For identifying the creative talents of children, an exhaustive list of activities is planned in four identified areas. The tools are specific to the activity as well as according to the different age groups. These tools are continuously being evolved and every time new and innovative tools are administered for identifying the creativity of children.
Psychological Test
Standarized Psychological tests on creativity are administered.
Method of Marking
Ratio of % of marks between ‘process’ and ‘product’
Category Process Product General Consensus
Creative Performance 60% 30% 10%
Creative Art 40% 50% 10%
Creative Writing 30% 60% 10%
Creative Innovation
In Science 40% 50% 10%
Out of 100 marks thus acquired, 80% will be retained and the remaining 20% marks will be added on the basis of psychological tests.
During the entire selection process, it is ensured that children are provided with a fearless and encouraging environment, so the entire process seems to them a joyful experience and offers them an opportunity to discover new extensions of their personalities.
Who selects the creative children?
The Jury Members who judge participants are eminent creative persons from the concerned streams in which they assess the children and have experience in dealing with children. They are capable of identifying the spark of creativity amongst children and differentiating between skill and creativity.
The National Bal Shree Honour is conferred to the most creative children of India by the Honorable President of India or the First Lady at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Areas of creative expression
Areas of creative expression chosen for identifying creativity
The Bal Shree Honour is awarded to creative children in the age group of 9-16 years in the following areas of expression.
· Creative Performance
· Creative Art
· Creative Scientific Innovations
· Creative WritingThe Bal Shree Honour consists of :
· A Plaque
· A Citation
· Cash Award (Vikas Patra)
· Literature Set (comprising books of interest to children)
All the children who are selected for the Zonal and National Level are also given participation certificates in recognition of their creative ability.
The Government of India has announced cash incentives for children who reach the national level of the Bal Shree selection process.
The children in the age group of 9-14 years are given a one time incentive of Rs, 5000/- by National Bal Bhavan.
The children in the age group of 14-16 years receive a Chacha Nehru Scholarship for Artistic and Innovative Excellence from the NCERT. A scholarship of Rs. 500/- per month is also given to children who are studying in class IX to XII, till they complete Class XII.
To further nurture the creativity of the honoured Bal Shree children, they are invited to participate in National and International Programmes, Camps and at various countries under the Cultural Exchange Programme.
