Youreka Training Children to become Instructors

The Financial Express reports on how Youreka, iDiscoveri is training children to become more productive and useful:

Kiddie junctions

Posted: 2006-04-30 00:02:40+05:30 IST
Updated: Apr 30, 2006 at 0002 hrs IST

: IF parents see summer workshops as a break from their little brats’ vacation at home, then it’s time for you to know more. With a range of summer workshops ready to be launched in May, the season of camping holds more than just fun.

Youreka! too has done a few value additions in its summer workshops this year. It has invited Chris Agnew, a faculty from NOLS (known for their outdoor education in US).

The camp will also introduce a new graded system to pave the way for kids to become outdoor instructors. To achieve this, it has introduced Youreka! awards —bronze, silver and gold. The bronze award will go to kids (between 9 and 11 years) camping at Sitlakhet, Coorg; silver for kids (between 12 and 14 years) at Tirthan, Coorg, Kollur, and gold for grown ups (15-16 years) at Tons, Kollur.

“As these are our permanent locations for camping. Usually, the kids begin from the camps where we have the bronze award, graduating later to higher metals. So, in a way, we get kids visiting us again, and we also find something new for them,” says Anubhav Das, partner iDiscoveri Education, which conducts the camps.

And if you are still hesitant, go for shorter ones. Like, the one at the Shiamak Davar’s Institute for Performing Arts (SDIPA), which conducts Summer Funk in all leading metros in India. The finale of the Funk will be a professional show where all the participants perform. “So, it is about learning and busting the stress while having loads of fun,” says Gowri Prakash, manager, SDIPA.

At some of the camps, even parents can assist the kids. Like the one organised at Trident Hilton Hotels in Agra, Jaipur and Udaipur. The Kids Club is equipped with books, comics, toys, videos, play stations and even a splash pool: an ideal location for children aged 4-12. The package even has outdoor pursuits like badminton matches, walks and camel rides.

“It is ideal for very young children who cannot travel independently to camps, and where they also get an opportunity to meet peers of the same age-group,” adds Ketaki Narain, director, corporate communications, The Oberoi Group (organiser of Kids Club), “to make it add to the fun, children here are welcomed with a gift and a Kids Club Passport.

The facilities at each hotel include an air-conditioned tent equipped with games, toys, books and movies. Fun and educational activities such as nature walks are also organised by the supervisors.”

There is no compromise about arrangements. A first-aid box with all necessary medicines, comfortable sleeping beds, a wide range of food and equipment of highest quality while they trek are all in-built in the programme. “There is no way my kid can miss milk, fruit and proper food at the camp. In fact it is more of five star treatment for them,” says Khera.

So, are there any comparisons that follow when they are back at home. “Never. After constructive training at the camp, they never complain or demand,” she says.

Well, with more and more camps round the corner, we might just have to stop referring to kids as brats!