A one-year postgraduate course “Post Graduate Diploma in Tea Plantation Management (PGDTPM)” started in 2016 by the North Eastern Tea Association (NETA) in collaboration with Golaghat Commerce College has been imparting practical training in the gardens coupled with wide-ranging theoretical knowledge of plantation and management thereby ensuring quality human resources in Assam’s 200-year-old tea industry.

As per an official, seven batches have passed out with almost 100 per cent placement.

“We decided to initiate the course to impart training to aspiring local youths desirous of working in the industry. Initially, we were not sure about how it will evolve, but the journey has been inspiring with cent per cent placement, and even a foreign student from Zambia joining the course this year,” NETA chairman (CSR Committee) Sunil Jalan said.

Moreover, NETA Advisor Bidyananda Barkakoty said  “We decided that youths desiring to join the tea industry must have the necessary knowledge required”.

Barkakoty added, “The syllabus has been created by a team of industry and academia. It is focused on the industry and there are both theory and practical classes in the field (factory and plantation)”.

Tiza Banda from Zambia is among the new batch of students enrolled for the course

said she decided to come here to learn about tea crop management from experts.

Answering how and why she landed up here she said ‘’Having searched online, I found this place safe and friendly and rich in knowledge on tea cultivation. I expect this course to equip me with vast knowledge and skill in tea plantation management, including cultivation, factory and labour management”.