Mangaluru(Press release): As a part of its Educational Social Responsibility (ESR) and with intention of reaching out to the needs of the rural community, St Joseph Engineering College (SJEC), Mangaluru, organized an agriculture camp at Manjotti Village in Belthangady Taluk. The camp was spread over three phases and helped the villagers to a great extent. The major objective of the camp was to give the students rural exposure and engage them in community activities. 

The first phase of the camp was held for 3 days in early October 2021. The camp began with an inaugural program involving the management of SJEC and the residents of Manjotti village. 49 students from 3rd year Engineering and 10 faculty members attended the first phase of the camp. During this phase, the students worked in the field, cleaned the surrounding area as well as soil for sowing seeds.

Apart from assisting the villagers with their agricultural needs, the students also entertained the villagers through a variety of cultural programs. During the camp, the students were exposed to rural life along with working in the agricultural fields.

The second phase of this camp was conducted in the last week of October 2021. 38 students from 4th year Engineering and 10 faculty members took an active part in this camp. During this phase, the major task was to prepare the field for planting paddy saplings. To facilitate this process, the students cleaned the field and made arrangements to block the water in the field.

The third and last phase of the camp was conducted in the last week of February 2022. This phase saw 2nd year Engineering students joining hands with faculty members and local villagers in paddy cutting and separating the grains. The last phase of the camp was all about learning agricultural and harvesting activities.

The parishioners of the Holy Cross Church, Manjotti along with Rev. Fr Praveen D’Souza, the Parish Priest of Manjotti and Rev. Fr Alwyn Richard D’Souza, the Assistant Director of SJEC participated in all 3 phases of this agriculture camp and were ably supported by the core team of NSS and the Community Engagement Group of the college. 

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Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.

AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.

“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.

He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.

“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.

According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.

In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.

AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.