Sailing through the sea of knowledge

KOCHI: Around 800 students and staff of Semester at Sea (SAS), a shipboard programme for studying abroad, anchored in Kochi as part of their 105-day academic voyage around the world  on their campus, MV Explorer, on Monday.To know more about the development patterns of Kerala, the students from 250 international universities visited Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR) to get an insight into the development patterns of Kerala. They got to learn about the traditional occupation in Kumbalangi, about Surrogacy Centre in Athani and the SOS Village in Aluva.Groups of students also left for Delhi, Agra Varanasi and Jaipur to see Taj Mahal, river Ganges and the Pink City. They will also visit institutes as part of faculty-led programmes to extend learning beyond the classrooms. They visited the Ernakulam Generel Hospital and ayurveda college in Tripunithura.Administered by Virginia-based Institute for Shipboard Education and sponsored by University of Virginia the student vessel will depart for their next destination on Saturday.