The Intercollegiate Youth Empowerment Programme organised by the Student Exnora of National College over four phases spanning five months was instrumental in preparing participants from various colleges to face challenges of life with confidence.
Ten leader volunteers representing different clubs from each of the 13 city colleges were invited by the National College with the purpose of creating a knowledge bank in the city by providing training in various spheres of significance and exposing them to day-to-day problems and solutions, according to V. Sri Ramachandran, Staff Advisor, Student Exnora.
Following the inauguration of the programme by the former Vice-Chancellor of Anna University – Tiruchi, V. Ramachandran, in the presence of the college secretary, K. Raghunathan, the Principal, K. Anbarasu, and the Vice-Principal, A. Krishnamoorthy, the students received the trainings from experts in various fields.
During the first phase, R. Panchanathan, former Professor of English, Jamal Mohamed College and professional Human Resource Development trainer, dwelt on values, and V.K. Boominathan, Professor and Head, Department of Commerce, Bishop Heber College, trained the students in ‘Leadership’, while C.D. Lethi, Professor and Head, Department of Zoology, Holy Cross College, spoke on ‘Goal Setting’.
The second phase provided them exposure to career opportunities, public speaking, environmental awareness and global warming. The sessions were handled by P. Suresh Kumar, Regional Deputy Director of Employment, Tiruchi; D. Benjamin Elango, Reader, Department of English, St. Joseph’s College; M. Ravichandran, Professor and Head, Department of Environmental Management, Bharathidasan University; and the Principal of the host College K. Anbarasu respectively.
In the third phase, the focus was on First Aid, Interpersonal Skills, Youth Psychology, and Meditation and Yoga. The resource persons comprised S. Radhakrishnan, a trainer from St. John’s Amblance; K.S. Dhanam, Associate Professor, Department of English, Periyar EVR College; R. Kumar, Deputy Superintendent, Annal Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital; and R. Sundararaja, Professor.
The principal delivered a lecture on ‘Dynamic earth’ in the first session of the fourth phase. The subsequent topics on personality development and communication skills were respectively handled by G. Ravindran, Head, Department of English, St. Joseph’s College, and Jayakar Chellaraj, former Principal of Bishop Heber College.
The final part of the fourth phase constituted the valedictory session. In his valedictory address, P. David Jawahar, Professor, Bharathidasan Institute of Management, spoke on the importance of Human Resource Development in an organisation and the ways to become an HRD trainer.
Presiding over, Dr. Anbarasu said the programme will be made an annual feature in the interests of the student community. All the students received certificates of participation.
