A STUDY ON THE OPINIONS OF HEADS AND STUDENTS OF SECONDARY ENGLISH MEDIUM SCHOOLS OF THE DISTRICT OF SINDHURG, MAHARASTRA, TOWARDS SCHOOL ASSEMBLIES

A STUDY ON THE OPINIONS OF HEADS AND STUDENTS OF
SECONDARY ENGLISH MEDIUM SCHOOLS OF
THE DISTRICT OF SINDHURG, MAHARASTRA,
TOWARDS SCHOOL ASSEMBLIES

ABSTRACT
The present study title, “A Study on the Opinion of Heads and Students of Secondary English Medium Schools of the District of Sindhudurg, Maharashtra towards School Assemblies,” is a descriptive survey study. Here the investigator has tried to find out the Opinions of the Heads and Students of Secondary English Medium Schools towards their School Assemblies. A number of issues arose at the time of the selection of the research study. The main issue that emerged at the time of the research have been presented in the form of the following questions: What is the relevance of School Assemblies? Whether School Assemblies are helpful towards the growth and development of the students? Does the School Assemblies bring about change in the Attitudes of the Students? Will there be a difference in the Opinion between Male and Female students as regards the School Assemblies? Will the Opinions of the Headmasters and the students vary too much?
This changing shift of Schools from traditional to modern makes one curious to find the status of school assemblies. Today School Assemblies have made great strides in its functioning and organization. School Assemblies have undergone changes, while it may mean different things to different persons and institutions.
NTRODUCTION:
Every School is called to conduct School Assemblies. It is highly recommended by the founders of Associations and the Educational Departments. Abroad too School Assemblies has reached great heights of quality and perfection. School Assemblies are very important form of co-curriculum activity. The values of School Assemblies are many but its prime function is the Self Actualization of the students. Teachers and parents lay great stress on academics and hence for most of them co-curriculum activities and assemblies are seen as a waste of time as as a distraction from the regular studies. The Education Commission (1964-66) clearly envisage the importance of co-curricular for the all-round development of the students.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The objectives of the present study were:
1. To analyze qualitatively the opinion of the Heads of the Secondary English Medium Schools, in the district of Sindhudurg, by means of an open-ended questions based on School assemblies, regarding:
i. Timing of the School Assemblies ii. Frequency of the School Assemblies iii. Place where the School Assemblies are conducted iv. Sections attending the School Assemblies
v. Important Functions of the School Assemblies vi. Items that constitute the School Assemblies vii. Benefits to students through the School Assemblies viii. Development of Students through the School Assemblies ix. Suggestions on Innovations in School Assemblies

2. To Collect and Analyze the Opinions of Students of the Secondary English Medium Schools of Sindhudurg District towards School Assemblies according to:
i. Duration of School Assemblies and if they preferred longer Assemblies. ii. Frequency of School Assemblies and if they preferred more frequent Assemblies. iii. If Prayer were part of the School Assemblies and if it helped their growth and Development. iv. If Pledge was part of the School Assemblies and if it contributed towards the feeling a sense of belonging to the country.
v. If message of good thoughts were Prayer of the School Assemblies and if it contributed towards their value education. vi. If Singing of the National Anthem was part of the School Assemblies and if it contributed towards their sense of belonging to the Nation. vii. If Activities like Skits were part of their School Assemblies and if it developed in them Leadership qualities. viii. If Reading of the News was part of their School Assemblies and if this helped them to developed their knowledge and intelligence. ix. If Singing of the School Anthem was part of their School Assemblies and if helped them develop a love for the School.
x. If the School Assemblies were conducted by the Heads or by their Teachers.

3. To Find the Difference between the Means of Scores of the Opinions between Girls and Boys Students, Private Aided and Private Unaided, and between Covent Managed Schools and Non-Convent Managed Secondary Schools towards School Assemblies.

HYPOTHESES
Three null hypotheses have been framed for this study. They are:
i. There is no significant difference between the means of scores of the Girls and Boys on their Opinion on School Assemblies of the Secondary English Medium Students, of the district of Sindhudurg, Maharashtra. ii. There is no significant difference between the means of scores of Opinion of the Private Aided Secondary English Medium School students and the Private Unaided Secondary English Medium School Students of the district of Sindhudurg, Maharashtra. iii. There is no significant difference between the means of scores of the opinion of Convent Managed Schools and the Non-Convent Managed Secondary English Medium School Students of the district of Sindhudurg, Maharashtra, towards School Assemblies.

RESEARCH DESIGN
The present study is a descriptive Survey study. The investigator collected the data from students of the Secondary English Medium Schools of the district of Sindhudurg, Maharashtra, and the Heads of these respective Schools to find out their opinion on School Assemblies.
The present study was carried out in five phases.
Phase I, Construction of the tool
Phase II. Validation of the tools
Phase III. Selection of the population and the samples
Phase IV. Collection of Data
Phase V. Analysis of the data
POPULATIION OF THE STUDY
In the present study, the population consisted of fifteen Heads of the Secondary English Medium Schools of the district of Sindhudurg, Maharashtra.

TOOLS USED IN THE STUDY
The tools used in the study were:
i. A self constructed Open-Ended Opinionnaire in the form of interview for the Heads of the Secondary English Medium Schools of the district of Sindhudurg. ii. A self constructed Opinionnaire titled, “A rating scale for the opinion of students of secondary English Medium Schools towards School Assemblies”, was prepared to find out the opinion of the English Medium Secondary School Students of the district of Sindhudurg, Maharashtra.

MAJOR FINDINGS OF THE STUDY
The major findings of the study are listed under the following headings.
i. Major Findings from the Heads of the Secondary English a Medium Schools. ii. Major findings from the Students of the Secondary English Medium Schools. iii. Other Findings.

A. Major Findings from the Heads of the Secondary English a Medium Schools.
a. 100% of the Heads of the Secondary Schools conducted School Assemblies on daily bases. This was irrespective if the Headmaster was from a private Aided, Private Unaided, Covent Managed or No-Convent Managed School.
b. The duration or time allotted for the school Assemblies was found to be short as 43% of the Heads conducted School Assemblies for just 5-10 minute. Compared to the number of items on the School Assembly this duration is considered to be too short. This was in contrast to the Opinions of the Students of Secondary Schools, who wanted fewer School Assemblies but of longer duration.
c. 100% of the Schools had facilities for conducting School Assemblies outdoors, with either a stage or a platform.
d. 100% of the Heads of Secondary Schools, conducted School Assemblies for all the sections: Primary, Middle and Secondary.
e. Only 14% of the Heads used skits during the School Assemblies. This is surprising because while suggesting innovations in School Assemblies 42.85% of the Heads suggested introduction of skits during the School Assemblies.
f. It was unanimously agreed by all the Headmasters that the most important function of School Assemblies was to bring about unifying feeling among the entire staff, management and students.
g. As regards the most important item of the School Assembly according to the Headmasters 42.85% mentioned Prayer, 28.57% mentioned National Anthem, while 28.56% mentioned Message/Thought for the Day.
h. 100% of the Head of Secondary Schools were of the opinion that School Assemblies catered to the overall development of the students.

B. Major findings from the students of Secondary English Medium Schools:
a. Nearly 96.53% of the students were of the opinion that singing of the National Anthem helped in their growth and development. The value that developed in them was an increase love for their country, singing of the National Anthem also helped in improving the quality of their voice. This item that is the National Anthem scored the highest among all the other items of the School Assemblies.
b. The item that scored the second highest was the development that takes place due to the recitation of the pledge during the school Assemblies. It scored nearly 95.45%.
c. The item that scored the third highest 95.45%, just close behind the Pledge Development that takes place due to the recitation or singing of the prayer during the School Assembly.
d. It is interesting to find that there were four questions if development took place due to School Assemblies with regards to intelligence, relationship, leadership and over all development. All these items scored high. 92.20% of the students were of the opinion that their intelligence had developed on account of school assemblies. 92.39% were of the opinion that school assemblies had helped in their relationships with others in the school. 82.03% of the students agreed that the school assemblies had helped in developing their leadership qualities. While 93.72% of the students which is the highest in this category were of the opinion that the school assemblies helped them in their overall growth and development.
e. 39.93% was the second lowest score. This was the opinion of the students regarding the duration of the school assemblies was 30 minutes. This goes to show that 60.07% of the students have shorter school assemblies. What is surprising is to find that 58.65% of the students preferred school assemblies to be longer.
f. Another important finding was on the frequency of the school assemblies. 82.35% of the students agreed that their schools conductd school assemblies daily. But only 74.89% of the students were of the opinion that school assemblies be conducted on daily basis. This schools that students prefer fewer school assemblies with longer duration.
g. Another item that scored less was skits used during the school assemblies. Only 45.56% of the students were of the opinion that skits were used during their school assemblies. Whereas 74.45% of the students agreed that the skits instilled in them values and inspired them to behave better.
h. It was also surprising to find that only 30.51% (lowest score) of the students sang their school anthem during their school assemblies. Where as nearly double, that is 68.39% of the students agreed that singing of the school anthem during the school assemblies had increased their sense of belonging to the school and also helped improve their voice.
OTHER FINDING
a. The table 4.1 shows that the opinions of the Heads of the Secondary Schools are the highest (100%) for the following items: Frequency of the School Assemblies, Outdoor, Stage facilities, School Assembly for all the Sections, prayer as the item for school Assembly, Message, Announcements and above all the development through the School Assemblies.
b. The lowest percentage that is 14% go to the following items: School Anthem, Singing of the patriotic Songs, Speech by students, builds leadership qualities and helps intellectually.
c. From the table 4.3 and the graph 4.2 it can be observed that the mean scores of the opinions of Girls of the Secondary English Medium Schools is higher than that of Boys. The girls have responded better than boys. It shows that the School Assemblies have been more beneficial to the Girls and moreover it has helped them more in their overall development.
d. From the table 4.4 and the graph 4.3 it can be observed that the mean scores of the opinions of Private Unaided of the Secondary English Medium Schools is higher than that of Private Aided Schools. The Private Unaided Secondary School students have responded better and have scored better. It shows that they have benefited more and has helped them more when it came to their development due to the School Assemblies.

CONCLUSION:
The study clearly brings out similar findings as the one done in the United States. (Bulletin of National Association of Secondary School Principals, 1946). School Assemblies are no longer considered by Heads as means of conveying moralistic messages or to make routine announcements. The main purpose of School Assembly is to develop the student’s skills, unify the school and provide opportunity for democratic participation in school activities. School Assemblies also enrich the instructional programmes of the school by providing an outlet for creative stimulating presentations.

EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATION OF THE STUDY
In the light of the findings of the present study the investigator suggests the following implications:
i. Try preparing School Assemblies at a professional level, and staging these School Assemblies not just in one’s own school but take it to the neighbouring schools too. As there are so many advantages and development through the School Assemblies, making them professional will increase the quality of the student’s development. ii. Thrice a week School Assemblies would be sufficient, but of longer and qualitative standard. iii. As the National Anthem, Pledge and Prayers scored the highest, give more importance by conducting these items effectively. iv. The staff and the Management must make sure that every child gets a chance to take part in the School Assembly at least once a year.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
I. The study could be repeated on a larger sample drawn from three districts of Sindhudurg, Kolhapur and Ratnagiri.
II. A comparative study could be taken on traditional and modern way of conducting School Assemblies and compare its effectiveness.
III. A study could be conducted on the opinion of teachers towards School Assemblies.
IV. A comparative study could be taken up on the way School Assemblies are conducted in the Secondary and Higher Secondary Schools.
V. A comparative study could be taken on the style of conducting School Assemblies between the State Government and Central Government run Schools.

REFERENCE