First community engagement internship on cleanliness under new NEP begins in MP college

A Madhya Pradesh college has become the first to start a community engagement internship on cleanliness under the new NEP.

In a first, 60 students studying at the Government Mahakoshal Arts and Commerce College in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh have started a community engagement internship under the new National Education Policy (NEP), according to information provided by a professor on Monday.

Professor Arun Shukla, who serves as the regional coordinator for the college's Swami Vivekananda Career and Guidance Centre, said the internship is of 50 marks and is compulsory for community engagement under the new NEP curriculum.

Arun Shukhla explained further, "In a first in MP, the first batch of 60 students out of 650 enrolled in the First Year of Arts, Commerce and Business Administration are undergoing an internship on cleanliness at Jabalpur Municipal Corporation (JMC)."

"The community engagement will enable students to understand ground realities like education, health, agriculture, livelihood of labourers etc during field study," he said further.

Speaking to the news agency PTI, JMC Assistant Nodal Officer Shailja Sullere "The college decided that the students should take an internship on cleanliness, a health issue to promote."

She went on to add, "Students are being given basic communication training on how to interact with residents, and have been handed a proforma to gather details about cleanliness in the municipal wards."

She informed further that mobile phone numbers of the municipal ward supervisors and health inspectors have been made available to the students and they have been asked to click and send photographs of garbage to civic officials so that it can be cleared.