Police give ‘hope’ to school dropouts in Kozhikode

The scheme has so far benefited 333 students in Kozhikode city alone

 

Project Hope (Helping Others to Promote Education), launched by the Kerala Police in 2017 to support the education of school dropouts, will present 147 students this academic year for final examinations from the Kozhikode City police district. The beneficiaries include 129 Plus Two students and 18 SSLC students. 

The effort bore fruit thanks to consistent work by nine resource persons under project administrator V. Firoz, who is also a senior civil police officer. Of the total learners, 16 are girls. Police officers associated with the project said the students were all confident of securing eligibility for higher studies.

“As many as 333 school dropouts have so far been trained under the equivalency scheme which was launched in Kozhikode city in 2018. Of them, 84 are certificate holders in various ITI courses. Sixty-eight students are pursuing various degree courses,” said Mr. Firoz. He said there were several students who had secured their dream jobs with the support of Hope’s training covering life-skill education, communication, and soft-skill development.

According to Mr. Firos, the project is aimed at protecting school dropouts from substance abuse. “We uphold the motto that prevention is better than cure here to mould youngsters and motivate them to become role models for others,” he added.

A prominent I-League player from Wayanad is now a Hope student. Some former students have secured jobs with the Indian Army, merchant navy, and companies abroad. A separate group is also functional to motivate former students secure jobs in the public sector.

The project is being run with financial support from the State government. Kaval, a non-governmental organisation, is also part of the project. Since it is a student welfare initiative, the resource persons offer service for a small honorarium. Classes are held near Thondayad. 

Every year, Hope gets around ₹2.5 lakh from the government. The support of sponsors is another attraction. To celebrate the success of the scheme, a Hope Festival is under way with year-long programmes. The valedictory session will be held in the city in two months with the participation of previous beneficiaries.