Implementation of the Student Ready Program of college of forestry started with the adoption of new syllabus from 2016.
The Student Ready Program of college of forestry has three components viz. FOWE 4101 - Forestry Work Experience (0+20) during 7th semester, Experiential Learning/Hands on TrainingI& II spread over 5th and 6th semester and Prw 4201 Project Work & Dissertation (0+10) during eighth semester.
a. Forestry Work Experience (FOWE)
The FOWE is meant for rigorous trainings outside the campus, in the forest, wildlife sanctuaries, industries, with farmers, public and other stake holders. The FOWE consist of Orientation, Forest Range Training Programme, Weapon Training, First-Aid Training, Industrial placement, Socio-economic Surveys and Village Attachment, Report writing and presentations for 120 days. Orientation is for 10 days and during which various exercises for exposing the students on the recent trends in the field of forestry, transactional analysis, personality development, soft skills development etc. It is also meant to prepare students for the rigorous of professional life after completing B.Sc. Forestry programme.
Forest Range Training Programme is for 50 days which include visit to modern forest nurseries, herbal gardens and watersheds, study on felling and logging operations, timber lots and important industrial products, study on working plan, enumeration, volume and yield calculation and compartment history files and study on the ‘CAT’ (Catchment Area Treatment Plan) and FDA (Forest Development Agencies). The students are exposed to the use of forestry equipments/instruments, study of the regeneration and management of important forestry tree species, Sample plots layout studies, stump analysis, preparation of local volume tables etc. They also study the working of other Forestry related organizations/industries. At the Wildlife Sanctuaries/National Parks/ Tiger Reserves, the students are expected to learn about the aspects related with the preparation of the Management Plans/Conservation Plans, to undertake and familiarize the various wildlife population enumeration techniques and the biodiversity assessment techniques. Students undertake pilot studies on the man-animal conflict and other issues in the forest areas etc.
During 8 days weapon training and first-aid training programme, the students get hands on training in the handling of various kinds of weapons and their operation, limitations and precautions during their use. As part of first-aid training, students getting basic knowledge on different first aid practices which are required in case of field emergencies, like snake bite, animal attack, poachers and accidents. Also to learn about the first aid to be given to wild animals in distress and volunteer in ginrural health services.
Industrial placement is for 20 days and the students are attached with Forest Based Industries like Wood Workshop, Saw Mills, Wood Seasoning and Preservation Treatment Plants, Pulp and Paper Industries, Aromatic and Medicinal Plant Units including AMPRS, Odakkali, Oushadhi, Kottakkal, KAPL, Aluwa, Ayurdhara, etc. Carpentry, bamboo and reed crafts, other Wood Products Industries, rubber, NWFP etc. Works to be undertaken includes study the nature of industrial and business organization-structure, raw material–collection and processing of raw-material, hands on practical, production and management process, marketing and financial management.
Socio-economic surveys and village attachment is also of 20 days duration during which students are acquainted with data collection, use of PRA techniques with respect to village profile including socio-economic and cultural status, farm technology used, homesteads, agroforestry, biodiversity etc., Bench Mark survey of plant resources (cropping pattern, homesteads, agroforestry, biodiversity, yield system etc.), Schedule development, tabulation, analysis and preparing plan of work, understanding local forestry and other village level institutions (Panchayat, Village Forest Committees, corporations, youth/women group setc.), and People’s participation in developmental programmes with special reference to forestry. Exercises on the use of extension methods and teaching aids for Transfer of Technology are also conducted.
Report writing and presentation module of 12 days is meant for compilation of the work/experience detailing the objectives, places and persons visited, work done, experiences/skills gained and suggestions for improvement to training, pesentation of the report before faculty and the assessment will be based on Project Report evaluation and viva-voce.
b. Experiential Learning Program
The Experiential Learning/ Hands on training I and II and have nine courses and in the 5th and 6th semesters and the students’ would choose any one of the following. The five major departments offers ELPs. The details of ELP programmes are as follows.
- Foel 3101/ Foel 3201Agro and farm forestry 5 (0+5)
- Foel 3102/ Foel 3202 Tree inventory 5 (0+5)
- Foel 3103 / Foel 3203 Raising Quality Planting Materials of tree species 5 (0+5)
- Foel 3104/ Foel 3204 Mass multiplication through tissue culture 5 (0+5)
- Foel 3105/ Foel 3205 Mass production and marketing of quality planting materials 5 (0+5)
- Foel 3106/ Foel 3206 Natural resource monitoring and mapping via Remote Sensing and GIS (0+5)
- Foel 3107/Foel 3207 Production and Marketing of high value forest produce (0+5)
- Foel3108/Foel 3208Biodiversity assessment, documentation and conservation strategies using advanced techniques including GIS (0+5)
- Foel3109/ Foel3209DNA fingerprinting - a tool for wild animal forensic/ individualistation and conservation genetic (0+5)
c. Project Work and Dissertation
Project Work and Dissertation provide the B.Sc. (Hons.) Forestry students an understanding of the principles and procedures of the experimental design, layout, analysis and interpretation of data and technical writing.
