West Kallada may be one of the less-prosperous villages in Kollam, but its residents are all set for a new beginning. The grama panchayat will soon be joining hands with Sree Narayana Guru Open University (SNGOU) to help all its residents graduate.
As part of the ambitious project, persons who have completed Plus Two can sign up for various degree courses offered by the SNGOU while graduates can join for postgraduate courses. The course fee for any of the 12 undergraduate and 5 postgraduate programmes will be borne by the panchayat and university.
“Many of our residents, especially women, had to stop their education midway. When some expressed their desire to continue studies after the break, we decided to give them a chance. We are the first local body to come up with such an initiative and the university officials are very supportive,” says panchayat president C. Unnikrishnan.
