A Kattunayakan tribal student from Nilambur will soon be flying to Qatar to attend the 2021 FIFA Arab Cup football being held in November-December as a prelude to the World Cup Football taking place next year in Qatar.
Nidhin C., a fifth semester student of Bachelor of Tourism and Hotel Management (BTHM) programme at Amal College of Advanced Studies, Nilambur, will be doing his internship in Qatar along with 38 of his classmates. They involved in the event management. He will be the only tribal student from Kerala to attend the FIFA Arab Cup.
Maiden journey
Nidhin could not restrain his excitement about going overseas as part of his studies. It will be his first flight, and it will be his first journey out of Kerala. “I am so happy and excited about flying abroad. It’s something I never expected. I had not dreamt beyond the jungles of Nilambur,” Nidhin told The Hindu.
He had studied at Indira Gandhi Memorial Model Residential School, Nilambur, till SSLC, and at Rajiv Gandhi Memorial Model Residential School, Noolpuzha, Wayanad, for higher secondary.
He said his horizons had widened after he joined BTHM at Amal College, Nilambur.
There will be two women among the 39 students going to Qatar on a month-long internship. They will fly to Doha on a chartered flight from Chennai by the mid of this month.
Online interview
They were selected by Qatar Star Services through an online interview. The students are hopeful that they would be called to attend the FIFA World Cup being held in Qatar next year.
“Most likely they can get to work for the World Cup. We are so happy about their international exposure,” said Shameer Babu Thappi, head of the Department of Tourism and Hotel Management.
College Principal T.V. Zacharia and placement officer V.K. Hafiz said that they too were excited about an international exposure for a tribal student along with others. Apart from Mr. Hafiz, faculty member K.P. Jineesh Babu will accompany the students to Qatar.
The Qatar Star Services will meet the expenses of the students, including their travel, stay, transportation and food. Besides, each student will also get a stipend of 500 Qatar Riyal (equivalent to ₹9,800).
