Mahatma Gandhi University will soon start working on a proposal to help needy students by coming up with an ‘earn while you learn’ scheme.
The move comes close on the heels of a recommendation on launching the ‘earn while learn’ initiative across universities at a recent meeting of Vice Chancellors convened by Minister for Higher Education K.T. Jaleel.
“We have taken a cue from the life of the slain SFI activist M. Abhimanyu of Maharaja's College Ernakulam, who was doing part-time jobs while pursuing his studies to support his parents who were daily wage labourers. Universities and affiliated colleges could come up with plans that would help the needy students find out jobs on part-time basis,” sources said. The varsity has plans to seek various options on how to help the students in need of financial assistance to undertake part-time jobs along with their studies. The Higher Education Department has suggested that departments could offer organisational and academic responsibilities under the supervision of faculty members for the needy students. They could be paid remuneration based on the work undertaken on either an hourly or daily basis.
Some of the universities and institutions which offer such programmes allow students to work on part-time basis in laboratories and libraries. MGU will explore the possibilities of providing part-time jobs to the needy students at Internet facilities or other related ventures on the campuses.
Higher Education Department officials said that varsities could also seek assistance from companies, agencies or organisations located nearby on whether they could join the initiative by offering part-time jobs to the students. The job-providers could offer short-term training to the select students based on their requirements. Colleges could tie-up with government agencies that may require the skill-sets of the students while working on the ‘earn while learn’ scheme.
