Woman self-help group steps towards higher education

Kerala’s women self-help group of Kudumbashree is taking a step further towards higher education sector by setting up a community college in the state, after being a part of various fields starting from pickle making to IT education.

This initiative will be implemented with the support of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) which is based in Mumbai.

“Eligible members of the all-woman network could avail a post-graduate diploma in Development Praxis free of cost under the programme”, Kudumbashree officials said. The fee of a similar one year-course would cost around Rs 1.5 lakh at TISS, they said.

“The community college initiative is a milestone in the history of Kudumbashree. We have a number of educated members and this project will help them expand the horizons of their dreams of higher education,” Kudumbashree Executive Director K B Valsala Kumari told PTI.

The syllabus and study materials of the course, which comprises nine months’ classroom study and one month’s field work, are drawn out by professors and TISS experts, she said.

TISS is one of the first institutes in the education of social sciences that provides technical and other back support for the programme.

The members of the self-help group who have an experience of two years in the mission, can apply for the course along with daughters of those members who are five years’ old in the network.