Help desk for tribal students to be launched

May 16, 2022 04:37 am | Updated 01:35 pm IST

Minister for Higher Education R. Bindu will inaugurate an education help desk set up by the Aadi Shakthi Summer School, a collective of tribal and Dalit students, here on Monday.

The Aadi Shakthi Summer School works for securing the education rights of tribal and Dalit students. Part of the ‘Indigenous Collective,’ a registered society, the collective deals with several concerns of students belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

The collective used to organise orientation camps during the summer vacations for students who had completed higher secondary education and were seeking undergraduate and postgraduate admission. However, the pandemic and the digital divide it underscored prompted the setting up of a State-level online education help desk in the 2020-21 academic year.

The Aadi Shakthi Summer School has also been successful in arranging hostel facilities for students who struggle to find accommodation in cities such as Kochi, and support their education.

Those behind the initiative say even though there is a surge in the number of new generation courses in private-aided-autonomous sectors, opportunities for SC/ST students are declining owing to high fee and digital divide. Applying to more than one university or college; paying fee online; fee payment on securing admission; data charges; expenses for travel, hostel, uniform and books all lead to large-scale exclusion of students.

The inauguration of the help desk for the 2022-23 academic year, a seminar on the topic ‘The New Education Policy and the challenges faced by SC/ ST sections’ and a cultural fete ‘Oppara-2022’ will be held at Hassan Marakkar hall and Gandhi Park on Monday.

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