Campus Talk: Ismail Yusuf College offers certificate course on self-help groups

The classes are held at the Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University (YCMOU) study centre located in the college. Prakash Parkhe, the coordinator of the centre and professor of economics at the Ismail Yusuf College, said: “With the YCMOU affiliation, individuals successfully completing the course will receive a certification that is well-recognised.”

The course contains theory as well as practical components. The theory part includes topics such as how to start an SHG, how to open bank accounts, and how to manage accounts of the SHG, among others. Whereas the practical component entails project submission by an individual.

The college started the course during the pandemic and has moved to full-fledged physical classes this academic year. Speaking on the course, Parkhe said: “It was brought to our notice that there are several SHGs active here (Jogeshwari) but not all have managed to attain success. At the same time, it was also noticed that most SHGs are running on a trial-and-error mode across India owing to the lack of academic knowledge on the subject. In fact, nobody knew about any course that can enable an individual to run an SHG more effectively. This led us to offer this course, which has been developed by the YCMOU.”

College principal Dr Swati Wavhal said, “Women are deemed to be the backbone of a society. Being a woman and in the capacity of principal, I am happy to have commenced a dedicated course to upgrade their skills of earning which in a way is contributing to strengthen the process of women empowerment.”

Each batch of the six-month-long course has an intake capacity of 60 students.