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Leisuring purposefully

A welcome exposure for students to practical learning

Holidays for kids naturally conjure up visions of full-fledged enjoyment. Yet, it is quite possible that the brainy ones may not find an overdose of entertainment that alluring. What they look far is an ebullient mix of education and purposeful leisure.

Call it `edutainment' or `infotainment', about 60 students who had completed standard X are into it, by virtue of participating in two similar month-long programmes on `Bioresources for School Children' organised separately by the National Facility for Marine Cyanobacteria, Department of Microbiology, Bharathidasan University, and The Rapinet Herbarium and Centre for Molecular Systematics, St. Joseph's College.

The programmes were inaugurated by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Madras, S.P. Thyagarajan, and S. Mukunthakumar, Scientist, Tropical Botanical Garden and Research Institute, Tiruvananthapuram, respectively.

Sensitising children

These residential programmes, sponsored by the National Bioresource Development Board, Department of Biotechnology, New Delhi, seeks to sensitise the students to the approach of reorienting the development process to conservation of natural and domesticated wild species/ecosystems, and restoration of degraded ecosystems. A highlight of these programmes is students have to prepare individual projects towards the end.

The participants, most of them with the potential of being future scientists, are enjoying the programmes for reasons more than one. The first, of course, is the welcome exposure to practical learning, which they seldom do at the school level. Another sweet factor for them is the academic freedom they are enjoying by being inquisitive. In both cases, the students are taken on trips to places of ecological importance such as mangrove forests, Kodaikanal, and Puliancholai.

The organisers are confident that the programmes will facilitate the students to realise the positive economic impact that the rich ecological diversity in the country could create. It is here that the students get the intuition to undertake scientific research, and correlate their activities with the nation's welfare, believe the faculty handling the various sessions for the students at the Bharathidasan University. Experienced professors, led by the Course Director, M. Sundararaman, evince equal enthusiasm in clarifying the students' doubts.

Videoconferencing

At the St. Joseph's College, students got the rare opportunity to interact with eminent botanists of international stature, including Juliana Prosperi of French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development, and J. Rajesh Singh of Libya. What more! Students are eagerly waiting to interact with the President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam through video-conferencing at the initiative of the Rapinet Herbarium, said its Director, Rev. Fr. S. John Britto.

Though the students find the academic sessions entertaining enough, they do not miss out on the other personality development activities at their residential camps. With yoga, play activities, and computer training supplementing their edutainment, they, indeed, cannot ask for more.

R. KRISHNAMOORTHY

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