CBSE schools in Kerala to form Yuva Tourism Clubs

KOCHI: Supporting the central tourism ministry’s initiative of Yuva Tourism Clubs to create youth ambassadors, CBSE issued instructions to all its affiliated schools on the formation of the club.
Tourism clubs help children to be more aware about tourist and cultural aspects of their respective states and domestic tourist destinations. They will enable them to appreciate the importance of travel and tourism, ignite a passion for tourism and its value, sensitize them to various elements of travel, encourage, teach and propagate responsible tourism practices, it said.
Such clubs also aim to improve physical and mental health of children through adventure-sports tourism and spread awareness about tourism opportunities at an early age and encourage them to be skilled professionals and entrepreneurs in the hospitality and tourism sector later.
CBSE director (Academics) Joseph Emmanuel issued a circular to all CBSE schools on Wednesday stating that they ‘may establish Yuva Tourism Clubs to organize various activities to promote tourism’. CBSE schools principals said that they have received the circular and are planning to implement it gradually.
The tourism ministry has shared a handbook for schools for conduct of tourism clubs. The ministry’s proposed activities are suggestive and teachers/schools are encouraged to incorporate allied activities under Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat programme like excursion, online tourism.
The handbook said tourism clubs are an important step in promoting responsible and sustainable tourism in India as it aims to educate citizens of tomorrow. It said that these clubs can make subjects like social studies, history, geography, and language studies interesting through integration with real life places and events.
“Various activities in schools play a major role in the all-round development of a learner’s personality. Activities taken up by CBSE schools under heritage education are associated with local history, art. Tourism is another medium for the communication of ideals of heritage education,” the handbook said.