LEAD programme to empower students.

​Nalgonda: Hubli (Karnataka)-based Deshpande Foundation and Nalgonda-based Komatireddy Prateek Foundation together launched a programme ‘LEAD’ (Leaders Accelerating Development) in the district recently to empower and encourage students with leadership qualities and to take up local issues and find out ways to solve them.

The objective of this programme is to develop entrepreneurial attitude among the students. The essence of the LEAD programme is “Complaints start with THEY Solutions start with I”.

As a part of the programme, orientation and leadership workshop programmes were organised in local degree, PG and engineering colleges in Nalgonda town. Nagarjuna Government College (autonomous), Government Women’s College, Government Polytechnic College, Neelagiri Degree & PG College, Sri Chaitanya Degree College etc are some of the colleges, where workshops were organised.

Students were motivated to take up certain leadership programmes in their localities and encouraged them to identify problems and provide sustainable solutions.

Nalgonda Sandbox, run by Komatireddy Prateek Memorial Foundation, provided them practical exposure to leadership, innovation and entrepreneurship, financial support and guidance to help them in implementing innovative ideas through mentorship, leadership camps and workshops. More than 90 students have registered in this programme at Nalgonda Sandbox in the last three weeks.

LEAD hosted leadership camps 0n July 29, where Women’s College students were divided into 16 groups to identify problems and find out innovative solutions.

This exercise would help them to develop leadership qualities to take up certain important issues and help people in their own way. Students distributed masks to patients in government hospital and traffic police.

They visited local government schools and motivated the students on cleanliness, provided them dustbins, conducted drawing and quiz competitions etc. They have also created awareness among roadside food vendors about neatness and hygiene by using gloves, dustbins for dumping wastage etc.

The students have cleaned their college campus and maintained cleanliness. Thus students are motivated and inspired to conduct two or more projects on their own and then mentor others in their colleges and locality.

Komatireddy Prateek Memorial Foundation CEO Gona Reddy informed that they will continue the programne phase-wise to cover all colleges and build next generation of human resource in the district.

The motto of Agastya Mobile Science Lab, being operated by Nalgonda Sandbox, is to empower students in rural areas with knowledge of science and to convert young generation of learners as scientists.

As a part of the programme, the mobile science labs will have experiments to explain the concept of science in a simple way. It will also conduct orientation classes for science teachers on how to teach science in easy manner in rural areas.

From July 11, on which District Collector P Satyanarayana Reddy launched Agastya Mobile Science Lab till date, they covered 10 government schools in the district.

On Sunday, Agastya Mobile Science Lab organised it’s programme in Sandeep School in Nalgonda town, which was attended by 100 meritorious students from Teja Vidyalaya of Kodad and hosted by Sandeep School.

Speaking on the occasion, Nalgonda Sand box CEO said that Agastya’s mission is to spark curiosity, nurture creativity and instill confidence in economically disadvantaged children and government school teachers by bringing innovative hands-on-science education and peer to peer learning to government schools and villages. He informed that the mobile science lab will visit all rural schools to develop knowledge of science to students.

He further informed that besides LEAD and Agastya programmes, Nalgonda Sandbox conducting ‘Nirman’ providing education and livelihood opportunities for underprivileged; ‘Sankalpa’ to conserve water resources through bore wells and farm ponds; ‘Asadeep’ to help people manufacture eco-friendly disposable consumer products using recyclable paper and agriculture waste (reducing plastic usage); and generating employment And also ‘better cotton initiative’ to improve cotton production, ‘seeds distribution’, ‘save a mother’ to develop health care solutions and a few other programmes were being organised.

By: Deekonda Ravishankar