Greater Chennai Corporation’s community college in Alwarpet has a steep challenge in terms of enrolment, due to the pandemic.
The management however is not giving in to despondency, and is trying out new strategies to get students to sign up for its one-year courses.
They have contacted the principals of Chennai Schools and created a WhatsApp group where brochures pertaining to these courses are shared. There is also frequent follow-ups by way of phone calls.
“On an average, every day, 15 calls are made to these principals seeking leads on students who might be interested in taking up any of these courses,” says Varalakshmi K., who is in-charge of the administration at the community college.
Recently, the staff started visiting the schools to meet the principals.
“We collect the dropout list and follow up with the students to learn about their interest in joining any of these courses,” says Varalakshmi.
She says that the target for an academic year is pegged at 100 students, and this year, they have not even reached a mid-point in reaching that count.
“Usually we start our admission process in May, this year we could only start in August and we will be continuing for some more time,” she says.
The community college was started in 1999, in collaboration with the Rotary Club of Madras East, mainly for underprivileged students. The college offers one-year full-time IMA-certified diploma courses in health assistant, OT technician, dialysis technician, radiology technician and lab technology for students who have passed Class X.
Besides, it offers part-time courses in communication skills in English and Computer Software along with Tally ERP9 for Class X pass/ fail students. The courses are offered free-of-cost and students
are helped by being made aware of job opportunities.
Students are provided with a free bus/ train pass.
Its six-month training in bakery and confectionery course comes with a stipend of ₹5000.
For details, call 9840393630.
