HYDERABAD: While most of us played pranks on each other on April 1, 180 intermediate students were learning about the stock market and trading money. They are part of the Summer Samurai camps organised by Telangana Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society (TSWEREIS).
The second phase of the programme started on April 1. It is engaging 30,000 children across 78 venues across Telangana with its programmes ranging from arts to sports.
The camps are spread across four phases and will finish in May. Poor children, who would otherwise be working as daily wage labourers or house maids to boost their family’s income are engaging in productive activities that help develop their personality.
“Hum Banenge Karodpathi’ was introduced because children expressed an interest in it. A lot of them are also interested in entering the hospitality and culinary business and we have a camp on that too, besides other activities like arts, crafts and various sporting events,” said George Varkey, academic coordinator for TSWEREIS. He is also the coordinator for the Summer Samurai Camps and Projects.
A model student at the camp is Poorna Malavath who scaled the Everest at the age of 13 years and 11 months. A film made on her life, Poorna, which was released on March 31 is also creating ripples across the country.
Another objective of these summer camps is to ensure that children with learning difficulties are also benefitted under the Igniters Camp programme. “About 99 per cent of the children are first generation learners and there are at least three children in every class who find it difficult to learn. We call them future learners not slow learners. We have specially trained people and psychologists to attend to their learning needs,” said Varkey. They only need to be approached differently, he added.
Children are engaged from 9 am to 5.30 pm after which fun activities have been designed that are aimed at developing their social and communication skills.
All programmes have been designed after months of deliberations and scrutiny and specialists have been selected to deliver these skill-based programmes, he added.