Soon, visitors to the museums in the state may not have to stand perplexed before the priceless items on display and return disappointed. Qualified experts would rush to guide them, giving whatever details required on the exhibits.
In a bid to appoint qualified museum guides, the Kerala Museum of History and Heritage has started giving training to 60 people who have completed post-graduate degree/diploma in four major disciplines - museology, archaeology, tourism and archives. Though the qualification required was post-graduation, those who appeared for the training comprised research scholars and people who completed MPhil also.
“In public and private sectors, more than 150 museums are functioning in the state. The coaching is aimed at training them in the service they have to provide. It was after conducting an interview that these people were selected,” said S Raimon, executive director, Kerala Museum. For those who have completed their masters in archaeology, this opportunity has come as a solace to their years-long hunt for jobs in their area of specialisation. “As we possess academic knowledge in the fields concerned, we can certainly provide the visitors with information that would be useful for them in a better way. Alongside, this is the first-of-its-kind opportunity we are getting from the government’s part since the post-graduate course in archaeology was started way back in 2001 in Kerala University,” said Roufia A Malik, a research scholar in archaeology.
The number of women who turned up for the training too was remarkable.
“For giving details regarding the precious antiques in the museums, the service of experts is essential. The selected people would be given an intensive training for 21 days. Their expertise would be utilised in the data collection process at the museums also. For the training, we have charted out a detailed syllabus of international standards,” said Prem P Mahesh, guide lecturer.
After the training, the participants have to take a test and those who qualify would be given certificates and be posted as museum guides. The last two days of the training period would be dedicated to museum visits.
The training programme was inaugurated by K Muraleedharan MLA at Vyloppilli Samskrithi Bhavan on Tuesday.