Sarva Siksha Abhiyan has launched a programme under the theme, 'Partnership Between Schools Programme' in Dindigul city of Tamil Nadu. This programme is aimed at providing urban facilities to the students from rural areas, so that they can experience the urban lifestyle and functioning of industries.
In a bid to enhance the problem solving skill of the students hailing from both rural and urban areas, this programme has been designed in a way that students from urban areas will experience the lifestyle of rural people and vice versa. The method of storytelling will also be employed and it is believed that such an exchange will lead to a holistic development of students.
The first batch of the programme was launched at the Panchayat Middle School in G. Iyapatti village in Sanarpatti union.
To start with, 20 students from Arul Jothi Higher Secondary School have been exposed to rural life.
"These students will attend classes in the school for six days. They will understand teaching methodologies adopted by rural teachers. We will also take them for a field study - visiting agri farms, rural industries and rural agri markets - to get a first-hand experience," revealed A. Vincent Paul Raj, school Headmaster, to a popular news daily.
11 urban schools have been inducted in the programme by the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA).
“Urban students would visit coir units, mango pulp processing units, paddy fields and wholesale vegetable markets, and rural students would be taken to lock industries, milk processing units and manufacturing industries,” told SSA district coordinator, S. Salim Raja.
The school exchange programme was primarily aimed at augmenting the living standard of the rural students by giving them urban exposure and to sensitise the urban students towards the problems associated with rural lifestyles.