Southern States - Andhra Pradesh-Hyderabad   

Formation of tourism clubs in schools on the anvil

By R. Ravikanth Reddy

HYDERABAD Oct. 14. Where are Niagara Falls, Statue of Liberty and Eiffel Tower? Answers to this question would be immediate and perfect from majority of school students. Ask them what Pillalamarri is famous for or where the sacred Buddhist site Amaravati stupa is in the State, a majority of them could draw a blank.

Students in schools will no longer experience these embarrassing situations, if the plans of the A.P. Tourism Department to form Tourism and Culture Clubs in schools to promote the popular tourist spots in the State apart from providing some educational value to high school students come to fruition. "The idea is to make the children learn, see and experience the glory of the State and its rich tradition and culture,'' says M. Lakshmi Jyothi, Chief Training Officer of Tourism & Hospitality Training Centre of the Government and involved in the formation of Tourism and Culture Clubs.

As a prelude to the exercise, the department held a meeting with principals of prominent private schools in the city recently apprising them of the concept. The idea is said to have generated a lot of interest among the principals who agreed not only to form the clubs but also spare a period every month exclusively to enlighten students about the prominent cultural places of the State with a tourism perspective.

"We are targeting high school students as when they enter college life in a few years they will have a fair idea about tourism,'' Ms. Jyothi says. She says teachers from these schools would also be trained before the formation of the clubs.

Students need to pay Rs. 5 per year to become the member of the club apart from the initial registration fee of Rs. 20 while the school would contribute Rs. 2,500 per year and the Tourism Department would chip in with Rs. 5,000. The money would be used for the club activities, which also includes excursions to nearby prominent tourist spots.

"Most students now go to excursions now also but these would be different where they would end up learning about the historic importance of the place apart from enjoyment,'' Ms. Jyothi avers.

The club members would get a book with list of activities to be taken up during year which include exposing them to heritage, handicrafts, ecology, adventure tourism, cuisine, temples, religions, history, tribal culture and so on of the State. Each activity is followed by an exercise.

"The effort is to inculcate the sense of involvement rather than it being just yet another academic exercise,'' point out, Ms. Jyothi. At the end of the year, the Government would give all the club members certificates.

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