Chennai: The Senior Citizens Group at Besant Nagar is offering free counselling for higher education over phone this summer. The move is aimed at helping students choose a course with the right inputs from retired academicians, corporate executives and bureaucrats, who are members in the group.Prof V. Chandrasekhar, a retired professor from Anna University and president of the group, said, “The idea came up during one of out monthly meetings. While the group is involved in many social activities, counseling students would also help students from a weaker economic background.”
Both landline and mobile numbers were shared with residents and the group claims there has been good response. The calls were more after results were declared and group members said about 75 students received free counselling.“While some of the students are very clear about their goals, others from weak economic backgrounds didn't even know what to ask and they simply passed the phone to their parents, who were also hesitant to speak. Helping these students really gives us a sense of satisfaction,” said schoolteacher C. Vijayalakshmi, one of the members in the group.
And what's their best advice to the students? “Choose a course that you are interested in and there will be a good future,” members said. On weekdays, the group operates between 11 am and 4 pm and the last day of counselling is June 30. The group is also collecting books from about 2,000 students who have completed college and is distributing it for free, with nearly 3,000 books - mostly of engineering and medicine subjects - collected.The group has also distributed books to Sankara Nethralaya and Dignity Foundation this year.
