Undeterred by the lockdown-induced educational disruptions, Ayesha, a B. Com first year student of Khammam-based Telangana Social Welfare Residential Degree College (TSWRDC), is relentlessly exploring new vistas of knowledge using a smartphone from her home at Yellandu.
The well-timed online-based collaborative initiatives of the Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society (TSWREIS) are proving to be a boon for several enthusiastic undergraduate students like Ayesha hailing from underprivileged sections to continue their pursuit of expanding the frontiers of knowledge despite the present turbulent times.
Ayesha and three other undergraduate students Githanjali, Prudhvila and Reena, of the Khammam-based TSWRDC bagged the opportunity to participate in the two-week long “Virtual Exchange Fellowship (VEF)” by excelling in an English proficiency test and interview held in online mode amid lockdown, a couple of weeks ago, sources said.
Students from seven other countries, including neighbouring Sri Lanka and Pakistan, are participating in the VEF being conducted by the International Association of Students in Economics and Commercial Sciences (AIESEC) on the digital platform.
“It is a unique learning experience to interact with student delegates from various countries representing diverse cultural backgrounds on specified themes on the online platform,” said Ayesha, daughter of Mohammad Ghani, a lorry driver of the coal town of Yellandu.
“I am using my mother’s smartphone to attend the online seminars on select dates,” she said.
“We had an online session on cross-cultural interaction and leadership involving delegates from different countries yesterday,” Ayesha told The Hindu.
“I am grateful to TSWREIS secretary R.S. Praveen Kumar for providing an enabling environment for online learning during shutdown of all educational institutions,” she remarked.
“The interactive sessions are very edifying as they are deepening our understanding of diverse cultures of the world and inclusiveness, the prerequisites for embracing leadership roles as socially conscious global citizens,” she said. “I consider this a stepping stone to realise my life ambition of becoming an IAS officer,” Ayesha asserted.