Study circles to help the students prepare for Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and other competitive exams will be formed in all the six constituent colleges of Madurai Kamaraj University, said P.P. Chellathurai, Vice-Chancellor of the university, while speaking at the orientation programme for first year students of the constituent colleges here on Tuesday.
Appealing to the Principals of all these colleges to take steps immediately to form these study circles, he said that talks by serving and retired bureaucrats, subject experts, and motivational speakers would be organised through these study circles.
Apart from this, he said that ‘multi-skill development centres’ would also be formed in all the constituent colleges to help the students develop communication, inter-personal and other soft skills.
“Since most of the students of these constituent colleges come from a rural and socio-economically backward families, they cannot get affordable coaching and guidance to prepare for competitive exams. That is where these study circles will help,” he later told the media.
Mr. Chellathurai also highlighted that a three-day village visit had been organised for the second and third year students of the six constituent colleges to document the socio-economic status of the people there.
“Since the first year students are undergoing a three-day orientation programme along with all the faculty members, we wanted the second and third year students to do something productive. Now, they will be collecting information based on a list of 125 questions,” he said.
Based on the survey, he said that the university would be taking whatever steps possible to assist the villages in addressing specific problems. “We will also be submitting a report to the respective district administrations on the findings,” he said.
Earlier, addressing the students after inaugurating the orientation programme, Collector K. Veera Raghava Rao urged the students to be socially and environmentally responsible. He advised the students to chalk out a plan for their future and work towards that.
He also encouraged them to participate in the sports and cultural competitions to be organised by the government for the upcoming birth centenary celebrations of former Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran in Madurai.
V. Chinniah, MKU Registrar (in charge), S. Andiappan, Controller of Examinations (in charge), K. Chandrasekaran, Director of Constituent Colleges (in-charge), A. Selvaraj, former president, Madurai District Tiny and Small Scale Industries Association, also took part in the function.
