Govt encourages schools to form tourism clubs

"The youth tourism clubs will be encouraged to organise cleanliness drives and awareness campaigns at the places they visit," said the official.

"The youth tourism clubs will be encouraged to organise cleanliness drives and awareness campaigns at the places they visit," said the official. (File)

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In an effort to promote youth participation in tourism, the Department of Tourism has encouraged schools in the state to create ‘youth tourism clubs’ for students from classes 7 to 10 and for junior college students.

“These clubs will help make students aware of what responsible and sustainable tourism looks like,” said Supriya Karmakar, deputy director of Department of Tourism, Pune. “Children will learn about local spots of touristic importance. Additionally, this will help promote tourism in the state as these students become ambassadors of local heritage sites,” she said.

Any school can form a youth tourism club with a minimum of one teacher and 25 students between classes 7 and 10. In the case of junior colleges, students can be taken from classes 11 and 12. Participating students will learn about local history and places of historical importance in the vicinity. Lecture series, short excursions, workshops and trainings can also be part of the monthly club activities.

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“The school education department could also assist us in a hand-holding capacity for trainings and educational support,” said Karmakar.

“The youth tourism clubs will be encouraged to organise cleanliness drives and awareness campaigns at the places they visit,” said the official.

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A reimbursement fund of Rs 10,000 for each school and Rs 25,000 for each junior college has been set aside by the state government for the academic year 2023-24, said Karmakar.

Schools will be able to avail of this reimbursement on a first-come, first-serve basis.

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