.And, ‘The Window of Opportunity’  is always shut on them. With the world making rapid progress on the technology front, and India being on the forefront of software development with most of the job being done using Internet, it’s sad to note that many villages and for that matter even many big towns, hardly can boast of having internet facilities.

Lack of basic facilities and opportunities is proving to be a big handicap for the rural youth, who are otherwise no less in talent and skills compared to their counterparts in cities and towns.

Precisely, because of this reason the Society Elimination for Rural Poverty (SERP), a voluntary organization has decided to organize “Education Awareness Programme” on ‘Mock Eamcet Counselling’ at various towns in the state with the active support of the KAB Educational Consultants, who have been organizing similar programmes at various cities and towns for quiet some time. As part of this awarness programme, SERP conducted Mock Eamcet Counselling at Sangareddy town in Medak district for two days, from July 12 to 13, which proved to be a big success.

The rural youth were obviously thrilled to be on the spotlight, for a change. The eagerness to make use of the rare opportunity that came their way was writ large on their faces as they gathered in good numbers.

The ‘Education Awareness Programme’, which was conducted at the DRDA office premises in Sangareddy, was basically intended to instill confidence among the rural youth and create awareness among them about the opportunities available in the higher education sector, particularly in Engineering. A “Mock Eamcet” counseling was also conducted simultaneously to give them a real-time experience before the real Eamcet counseling, which would come in handy when they are confronted with a tough choice of selection of seat.  

The programme made a significant impact as hundreds of students, belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) categories, were prescribed with ‘perfect tonic’ and their motivation levels have gone up tremendously with the experienced KAB educational consultants, answering their queries with aplomb. 

The Principal Secretary (Rural Development), Mr. K Raju, who was the special guest at the programme, said that the government was very keen to provide better education facilities to the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) students. “We, especially, concentrate on the rural areas where many students can’t obtain knowledge about various higher education courses and job opportunities available to them,” Raju explained.

Mr. Raju stated that these kind of educational awareness programmes should be conducted in all rural areas across the state. “Awareness should be created among the rural area students and they should be in a position to choose the right course and navigate their career.”

“The government has been striving hard for the development of the rural areas by providing facilities for weaker section students. Many educational awareness programmes are being organised at all the district headquarters in the state to create awareness among the rural students on the education system, with a special focus on higher education,” he added.

In his inaugural address, Mr K Venkatesh, Director, KAB Educational Consultants said that the programme’s main focus was to create awareness among the students, particularly to those belonging to  Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST), who aspire to know about the Eamcet and non-Eamect courses and how to make their choice during the Eamcet counselling.

Mr. Venkatesh stressed upon the importance of higher education and growing employment opportunities in our country. “Many students, particularly the SC and ST students from rural areas are failing to make use of these opportunities due to lack of awareness about higher education and various courses available after graduation,” he opined.

The ‘Education Awareness programme’ designed to evaluate the capabilities of  Intermediate passed students and to provide them with necessary inputs about various opportunities available at the professional courses like—Engineering, Medical, Dental, Pharmacy and Para-Medical and many other regular courses like graduation. The students were also provided with the information about various vocational courses as well.

Many enthusiastic students actively participated in the counseling session conducted by the experienced representatives from the KAB Educational Consultants. The KAB representatives explained to the students on various career choices available with a real-time Eamcet Counselling which was conducted as per the guidelines of the Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education (APSCHE),” Mr. Venkatesh said.

Approximately 500 students attended the programme and as many as 200 students appeared for the Eamcet Mock Counseling session while about 300 students made use of the opportunity to know about many  non-Eamcet courses available for them including those at graduation and under graduation level besides many other professional courses like  management, medicine, pharmacy, para-medical and other courses.
 
Mr. C Madhava Rao, Dean, Vasavi Engineering College said, that the mock-Eamcet counselling programme would help the students to make a right choice of course during the counseling for engineering, medical and agriculture sectors. He praised the KAB Educational Consultants for their efforts in conducting these kind of programmes to create awareness among the rural area students.
 
Dr. P H B S Sarma, a representative from Care Hospital, narrated various options in the para-medical courses offered by the Care Hospital and various job opportunities available for the para-medical students in general. The Care Hospital offers many courses in Para-medical after Intermediate, he said.

Dr. Rani Kumari, an expert in Bio-Chemistry from Arora College explained to the students about the job opportunities available in  Bio-Chemistry and related categories. Many students, who are currently pursuing Bio-Chemistry course had been offered jobs during the  campus recruitment drive while they were still in their final semester, she said.

All students, who appeared in the counseling programme, expressed their satisfaction over experts’ suggestions and guidance on various courses.

Ms. Jyothsna, a second year Intermediate MPC student at St. Antony Junior college in Sangareddy said, that the experts’ counselling would be a definite help as she was preparing for the Eamcet exam. “I attended the counselling to know about various options available for  the Eamcet rankers besides procedure to be followed during preparation for the Eamcet entrance exam and counselling session as well,” she said.

G Suresh, a B.Com (Computers) student at National Degree College at New Palvancha in Khammam district said, that the educational awareness programme would help him make a better choice in higher education. “I was very worried as I was not really aware about various options available for students like me. Now, I am feeling a bit comfortable as this counseling session helped me gain proper knowledge about various prospects in higher education,” Suresh said.

K Nagaraju, a B.Com student from Ellinki Degree College, Sangareddy expressed his satisfaction on the experts’ suggestions in the counseling session. “I want to pursue MBA after my under graduation. I don’t know how to prepare for the Integrated Common Entrance Test (ICET) which is conducted to get admission into MBA courses in various universities and affiliated colleges in the state. I am very thankful to the KAB experts, who explained me about the MBA course and other courses,” said Nagaraju.