“Earn while you learn” is more common among college students, but KPR Mills has set to do this differently by facilitating its workers “learn while they earn”.

The group has been doing this with a focus on empowering its workforce. It has so far helped over 16,000 employees acquire a degree or more and move on in life.

Mill sources told BusinessLine that a good number of them had moved on in life to become teachers, nurses, accountants, police officers and so on. “Women who get a degree invariably get married and settle in life. But we have the satisfaction of enabling them obtain a degree,” the source said.

At the fifth graduation day, hosted at the auditorium of its Arasur mill campus on Sunday, degree certificates were conferred on 204 employees-turned students. A majority of them were women, including seven students who secured three university ranks.

It was a reunion of sorts as the workers from various KPR units – Sathyamangalam, Anasur, Neelambur, Arasur and Thekkalur – gathered under one roof, to celebrate and watch the colourful ceremony. With more than 2,000 students and their parents, the auditorium was packed to its capacity

The rank-holders were given a cash award, a medal and a trophy.

Emphasising the importance of reading, M Bhaskaran, Vice-Chancellor, Tamil Nadu Open University, said “if we want roses, we must plant and grow them. Likewise, if we want knowledgeable people, we must read. Leaders are readers and readers become leaders,” urging the students to pay their gratitude to their parents.

The mill is expected to produce over 3,600 graduates and post-graduates this academic year.

Related Topics