KalingaTimes Correspondent
Bhubaneswar, Nov. 11: It is for the first time Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), the biggest residential tribal institute in the South Asia , has now attracted the attention of US Government and United Nations. Both US Government and UN have selected KISS to implement innovative projects, which have high potential of replicability across the country.

According to an official release, KISS has been selected by the US Government as an educational service provider in India for the English Access Microscholarship Programme - an initiative of the United States Embassy in New Delhi and the United States Department of State.

The programme for KISS - the first ever by American Government for any tribal institute in India - was officially communicated by Michael Pelletier, Acting Public Affairs Officer, US Embassy, New Delhi recently.

The English Access Microscholarship Programme, know as Access Programme in short, will make the study of English more easy and accessible to the economically deprived tribal students of KISS.

Under the programme, Ambassador of US to India will facilitate English language study to 100 tribal students between 14 to 18 years of age at KISS for a period of two years, beginning December 1, 2009.

The selection of the participants will be done on the basis of the income of the parents and their English proficiency. Lessons will be imparted by Full Bright scholars, US Embassy employees, Peace Corp volunteers and English Language Fellows using modern methods like Computer-aided Language Learning (CALL), multimedia and face-to-face interaction.

The Access Programme will help tribal students of KISS develop integrated personalities and sense of responsibility and work culture. It will inculcate confidence among the socio-economically deprived students to face challenges and growing demand of the job market.

After completion of the programme, tribal students will have opportunities to work in enterprises in India and abroad. The progress of the programme will be directly monitored by Washington DC . Graduation ceremony for the successful participants will be held at US Embassy in New Delhi . Entire scholarship for 100 tribal students under the programme will be borne by US Embassy.

In another development, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has partnered with KISS for a project to overcome knowledge and skills deficit for life skills education in the state. This is the first project of its type of UNFPA in South East Asia and the biggest project of UNFPA for Odisha state. The project will address tribal adolescents who are highly vulnerable and have fewer opportunities to access information.

Under the project, Life Skills Education (LSE) Programme will be taken up among the students of KISS through co-curricular activities with the help of youth friendly counseling and health services. Efforts will be made to enhance research capabilities on issues related to Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health (ARSH) and LSE.

Under the partnership UNFPA will have an office in the premises of KISS. The learning and experiences at KISS would be used to steer the process for initiating LSE in the tribal schools of Odisha. It is a great pride both for the state and KISS also the tribal community of the country said the intellectuals.

The projects will be helpful for KISS to do a bit more for the deprived tribal population of the country, said A. Samanta, Founder, KISS and KIIT. It will definitely contribute to make it an institute, which will have relevance not only in India , but whole of world as a model for development of poor, he added.