For many children, summer vacations mean easing off the academic train and lazing around, playing games on mobile phones, or spending time on social media. However, the Student Police Cadets (SPCs) of Government Vocational and Higher Secondary School, Vithura, are making creative use of their time so that their holidays are both fun and productive. Their campaign is inventively titled #IAmTheSolution.
The cadets have already harvested fish from the freshwater fish farming being done in a pond under the SPC project at Kannankara in Tholicode grama panchayat. The fish farming, taken up as part of the ‘Oru nellum, oru meenum’ project, saw good yield, leaving the students satisfied with their efforts. The pond where they undertook fish farming is owned by former police officer Nisaruddin. Catla, rohu, and Assam ‘vala’ are some of the fish harvested by the students, under the expert guidance of model farmer Thachancode Manoharan Nair.
Skill hub
Skill hub is another SPC project to nurture various skills of students. The children are trained in cooking, baking, flower art, indoor water garden and waste bin making at the skill hub that is part of the SPC amenity centre opened at the school last year.
The SPC cadets are creating a Miyawaki garden on the school premises by planting saplings of indigenous fruits such as ‘chamba,’ ‘njaval,’ ‘ambazham,’ ‘attha,’ guava, jackfruit, and mango. Their aim is to conserve these fruit trees and introduce the school students to their delights.
Medicinal garden
Students reaching the school in the new academic session in June will be welcomed by a medicinal garden with 40 rare medicinal plants. The garden created by the students will include plants such as ‘Arogyapacha’ and ‘Vayambu.’ The names and other details of the plants will be displayed. The medicinal garden is being set up under the directions of Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute senior scientist Mathew Dan.
Bicycle for student
The students are also busy selling old newspapers and waste material and organising pickle and payasam challenges during the vacation to raise money to buy a bicycle for a financially backward student in the new academic year. Money is also being raised to provide study material to nearly 15 students each in two tribal settlements where the SPC cadets have set up ‘Kuttipallikoodams.’
Worried by the increasing energy consumption during the summer, the students have come up with an energy conservation campaign. The cadets are visiting nearby houses during the holidays to create awareness of ways to prevent power wastage. To regulate energy consumption in their own houses, the cadets have come up with energy cards to try and monitor any wastage.