Christian college to help school dropouts, destitute

January 17, 2013: The Madras Christian College (MCC) in India is planning to start a community college to help school dropouts and women in the locality gain employment skills. The community college is part of MCC’s initiatives to mark the 175th year of its commemoration.

"Many families are daily wage workers and vendors struggle to make ends meet. There are many school dropouts in the area. These youths need to be engaged in a productive way," said Miriam Samuel, head of the social work department and project coordinator.

The MCC - Community College will come up in West Tambaram near MCC Oxfam School, in the Southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The effort is being made to help school dropouts, destitute women, and those with disabilities get jobs and improve their quality of life.

Faculty members and students will also be involved in the skill development of the target group. The community college will offer a nursing assistant course and hardware training for 30 students - with 15 students in each course.

The community college would be affiliated to the Tamil Nadu Open University. It has also taken up the project of enriching greenery on campus by planting exotic species of plants supported by the same type of soil.

"Students of botany from colleges across the city visit the campus to study various species of plants. This project will help them expand their studies," said college curator and associate professor of botany Manu Thomas.

D Narasimhan of the botany department said that at least 175 plant species will be planted on campus as part of the project.