Education to Emancipation: Women’s Journey to Self Actualisation - Women Skill Park

Women Skill Park is an IQAC venture for employability enhancement. Being one among the key initiatives of IQAC, this is aimed at increasing women’s job potential and employability through linkages and collaboration apart from institutional initiatives by offering job-oriented certificate courses, skill training, skill empowerment sessions, leadership trainings, etc., to exclusively equip students, and women in the neighbourhood area. This is unique and distinctive practice of the institution rooted in the institutional vision and goal of women empowerment through 5 Es, such as education employment, empowerment, entrepreneurship and emancipation. 

Women skill Park (Career Craft) is to impart employability skills and entrepreneurial skills to students of the institution and to women in the locality, and thereby to empower them as powerful citizens contributing to state and national women workforce, nation building. This has a further major objective of building of an egalitarian society through women empowerment and thereby adding to the gender parity through emancipated societies. The concept of Women Skill Park was introduced in 2021-22 by IQAC. It is conceptualised as a platform for upskilling women- students, alumnae, parents of students and other rural women of the locality/district. It was introduced in 2021-22 with the support of college governing body.

Dr Shahina Mol A. K, IQAC Coordinator submitted the proposal forsetting up of a women skill park, in 2021 and it was decided to implement by the college governing body as one of the strategic perspective plans of IQAC in connection with 30th anniversary celebration of the institution, titled, VISION @30. Dr Shahina Mol A. K., IQAC Coordinator also serves as the director of the women skill park. She submitted a proposal for the upgradation of women skill park to the Hon. Education Minister of Kerala state, Dr Bindu in 2021-22. 

In 2022-23, under the aegis of women skill park of IQAC, as planned in 2021-22, the One Year Entrepreneurship Training Program for select students and alumnae of KAHM Unity Women’s College, Manjeri in association with Impex Foundation Manjeri came into force. Ms Fathima Shajitha, Faculty of Commerce was the coordinator of this programme. Dr Shahina Mol A. K., Ms Fathima Shajitha TK and Ms Vineetha MK serve as the coordinating team members of Women Skill Park and its activities. An MOU was signed by the college with Impex Foundation. The orientation programme for students was arranged at the college for select students. Programme outcome, specific outcome and curriculum, structure of the programme etc., were finalised. Classes started in April 2023. Official inaugural ceremony was held in June 2023. It is a new flagship programme conceptualised by the college IQAC to empower various stakeholders of the institution in the field of women entrepreneurship and employment through job oriented add on/ certificate courses, diploma courses and other specific collaborative initiatives.