14-8-2024
Appointment of Principal Joseph Justin Rebello
Today we were facing a busy day. At 8 a.m., the taking of the oath and appointment of the new principal was on the agenda. This took place in the chapel of St.Albert's college, in the presence of the management, almost all the department heads and some of the teachers. What is special is that before taking office, new staff, managers and administrators must make a vow, with their hand on the Bible, that they will do their utmost for St. Albert's college.
Visiting Jinson
After breakfast, we quickly hopped in an Uber toward Jinson, whom we had asked to make a miniature of the AIM building. This took some effort, especially the towers and roof of the colonial building were tricky. Although there was some lack of detail, we felt the final result was satisfactory. We will make a gift of the building to the Albertian Institute of Management (AIM) on Friday.
Jinson still finds it difficult to charge a fair price for his work. He sells his stuff too cheaply and therefore he earns too little. We actually assumed that for manual work, surely a wage of INR 1000 per working day should be asked. That's about 2x the official minimum wage in Kerala, and works out to €11 per day. And then of course the cost price of the materials used (wood, paint etc.) has to be added. We explained to Jinson and his sister (who acted as an interpreter) that starting in September, a group of students from AIM will look into his business case. Dr. Jithin Benedict from AIM is picking it up. From the Netherlands we can provide additional online guidance if needed.
Of course, as usual with each visit, we were offered a cup of tea and some snacks. We quickly slurped down the tea as we had to get on, back to St Albert's College because of Graduation Day. There was just enough time to take a quick photo of Jinson, his parents, his sister Geeni and her infant son.
Graduation Ceremony
Fortunately, our cab driver had waited for us, as we had asked him to do. It was busy on the road. The graduation ceremony was already in full swing when we arrived back on campus. Graduation Day at St. Albert's definitely is a spectacular ceremonial event. The graduation ceremonies at Saxion pale in comparison. Just the fantastic gowns of the staff, teachers and students! All students burned a candle and collectively made a vow, promising, among other things, to dedicate themselves as graduates to society as a whole. Throwing up the graduation hats was, of course, part of the festivities.
Photo session with the Albertians
After wrapping up the official ceremony, there was a photo session for the graduating AIM students. Of course, as Foreign Faculty, Jaklien and I had to sit in the front row again. Most of the students now have jobs and enjoyed seeing and thanking us one more time.
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