The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Swedish students bowled over

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Tuesday, Feb 12, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Swedish students bowled over

P. Ram Mohan

Socio, economic life of rural people impresses the group

Learning process: Students from Sweden interacting with the members of a family in a village in Varni mandal.

VARNI (NIZAMABAD DT): A group of 18 students including two women teachers of Global College , an upper secondary school in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden was very much impressed with the rural environs and socio, economic and traditional life of the people in this mandal headquarter town and its peripheral villages.

During their ten-day stay at the Cheli Nilayam of Samskar-Plan, the students who are in the final year of their schooling went round the villages on bicycles. They formed four groups and studied functioning of Panchayat Raj Institutions, micro finance and women empowerment, environment, health care and education and social issues.

Practical training

“As part of the learning process we offer a few weeks practical training with different companies and organisations. We also provide an opportunity for a three-week-long field trip.

This time two groups (one went to Rajasthan) are visiting in India and two groups went to Uganda.

The aim of the field trip is for students to gain real life experiences from other cultures as well as to apply all their acquired knowledge of global issues within a final project during their last year of study”, explained Ms. Emma, one of the teachers.

Interacting with The Hindu, Daniel, one among four male students, in his observation said the functioning of local bodies was affected by many intrinsic ills in the society.

Though the women were elected on the basis of reservations they were not functioning on their own and were being influenced by their husbands, he said.

Saying that this was her first visit to India, Ms. Isabelle, says the women here were tradition bound and the social life was quite interesting.

She says in her country the arranged marriage system does not exist and almost all are love marriages. Wearing saries and chudidars the girl students also attended a wedding ceremony in Akbarnagar and called on some families.

They said they felt comfortable here and the village environs impressed them.

Incidentally, this is the second year for Swedish student groups to have come here.

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