Malegaon:
Encouraged by the tremendous response it received to its course
for the Mukadams of Malegaon, Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open
University (YCMOU) now plans a module based degree course in
textiles for those who are associated with the industry.
The course to be launched from June this year is targeted at the
people associated with the textile industry who could not acquire
formal education because of poverty, absence of institutions
offering such courses and various other such reasons, YCMOU Vice
Chancellor Dr. Krishnakumar informed ummid.com.
“Our aim is to provide education
opportunities to the under-privileged who are skilled but don’t
get recognitions because they have not acquired any formal
education”, he said.
Outlining the details of the proposed degree course in textiles,
Dr. Jaideep Nikam, Director of Health Sciences at YCMOU who was
recently in Malegaon said that the course though will have
three-year duration; it is divided into different modules to suite
the class it is meant for.
He said that a student after
completing six months will be given a certificate, after first and
second years he will be given diploma and advanced diploma
respectively, and finally a degree after completing the entire
three years.
“The idea is to give at least some
recognition to every student even if he discontinues in the
middle”, he said.
The YCMOU’s plan to introduce the degree course in textiles
follows the exams the university had conducted in Malegaon on
September 30, 2011 for the Mukadams, the head mechanics of the
city’s powerloom industry.
More than 700 Mukadams had cleared
the said exam that earned each one of them a university
recognition, which is also recognised by the Govt. of Maharashtra.
YCMOU plans to hand over the
certificates to these Mukadams in a special ceremony to be held in
Malegaon in February first week. With the certificates in their
hands, these Mukadams would probably form a unique chunk of people
in the world, who cannot read or write yet hold university
certificate.
Meanwhile, YCMOU has tied up with Textile Association of India and
has also been promised of a support from Director of Textiles,
Mumbai so as to introduce the course to more and more people, Dr
Nikam said.
YCMOU had earlier launched courses on similar lines for Mumbai’s
dabbawalas, newspaper hawkers and other skill-oriented and
professional courses for in-house industrial training to those who
are skilled but do not have formal education.
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