To impart training to students coming from the poor economic background, Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) with the help of Arc Foundation opened Meraki India school of Arts and Skills at Vivekananda Road in Ram Nagar on Thursday.

Corporation Commissioner K Vijayakarthikeyan and Deputy Commissioner (Traffic) Sujit Kumar inaugurated the school, which is expected to impart training to the Corporation and as well as Government school students in folk arts, art and craft, Bharatanatyam, yoga, silambam, computer courses, classical Instrument, classical vocal, Western instruments, media production, language classes and storytelling.

According to sources, the civic body has given as many as 12 old Corporation school rooms and ground space for Meraki and many have given financial assistance for painting the walls. Class hours will be between 5 and 7 pm. The school will also have a skill centre for differently abled and a Kalam library.

According to M A Aparna, one of the founders of Arc foundation, "We have identified many talented students in the Corporation schools after we setup APJ Abdul Kalam libraries on Corporation school premises. While some of them are best in oration, groups of students excel in dancing. Though they have extra skills apart from studies, they do not have proper guidance to step into the next stage. The newly opened Meraki school will assist them like in private schools. We have been working for the last month to set up the school."

The objective of Meraki will be to aid children, who can't afford to pay fees, to sculpt their talents and to create professionals in the field of their passion.

Apart from regular school students, training will also be given for the specially challenged and slum areas. "We will also conduct upgradation programme for teachers and we will pay salaries to the instructors. For instance, yoga training would be given for the teachers as a certified course to impart the same to the 25,000 Corporation school students," she said.