Campus life just got cooler  

KOCHI: As part of the government’s Earn While You Learn (EWYL) initiative launched last year, the tourism department is set to collaborate with 25 colleges to provide part-time openings to students.

“We will be forming tourism clubs at select government colleges. Currently, we are in the process of selecting the institutions for the initiative,” says a senior tourism department official. “Each club would have a minimum of 50 students. The plan is to engage them in the upkeep of destinations, involve them in social media campaigns and explore other opportunities in the sector.”  

Institutions would be picked based on the location of the major tourism destinations. “Fort Kochi, Kovalam, Kozhikode Beach are some of the centres,” says the official. Hundreds of students, especially from the weaker sections of society, are already being given the opportunity to work, without their studies getting affected.

The Kerala State Higher Education Council, which framed the project guidelines, launched the initiative at 75 government colleges across the state. During the last financial year, the state government spent about `1.21 crore to roll out the EWYL initiative.

“We are planning to expand the project,” says a senior higher education department official. “Last year, the response was huge. We were able to introduce many students to various skill-based entrepreneurship programmes, too, based on their academic stream.”

Mandatory farming
Under the project, the government has allotted Rs 10,000 each for 75 campuses to initiate organic farming. “This year, the government has made organic farming on campuses mandatory as part of the scheme. The plan is to sell the produce cultivated by the students to the college canteens,” says another official.