Rapporteur's Report National Seminar Sponsored by NAAC

NAAC SPONSORED NATIONAL SEMINAR

ON

BEST PRACTICES IN COLLEGIATE EDUCATION AND EMPLOYABILITY OF STUDENTS

25^TH AND 26^TH AUGUST 2009

SONARI COLLEGE

RAPPORTEUR’S REPORT

PAPER PRESENTATION: DAY ONE 25/08/09

Chairperson-------------Dr. Kulendra Kr. Deka, Vice-chancellor, Dibrugarh University

Resource Person-------Dr. Rajiv Handique, Reader, Deptt. of History, Dibrugarh University.

Paper I: A New Dimension in Career Counseling: A Case Study of Jorhat College Job Fair

By Soumitra Puzari, Lecturer, Deptt. of History, Jorhat College.

Paper II: Identification of Some Best Practices in Higher Education Institution of North East India

By Mr. Pronob Phukon and Mr. Siddartha Pait, Sarupathar College, Golaghat

Paper III: Collegiate Education vis-à-vis Employment Opportunities in Assam—A Study

By Dr. R.N. Sabhapandit,Ratul Bora & Utpal Deka, Bihpuria College

Paper IV: Present Education System and Employability of Students

By Mrs. Deepanjali Gogoi, Lecturer, Deptt. of English, Sonari College.

Paper V: Best Practices in Collegiate Education

By Mr. Hemanga Ranjan Chutia, S.M.D. College, Charing

Summarized Report of the two Sessions: 25^th August 2009

The key-note address of the first technical session was delivered by Prof. B. K. Dev Sharma. He said in his speech that the best practice in collegiate education is to design competitive learning style. He gave emphasis upon the blending of traditional learning modern learning processes. He also laid emphasis upon Communicative Approach of Teaching such as oral discussions and formations of community groups for exchanging students and study materials.

The first paper was presented by Mr. Soumitra Puzari, Jorhat College, entitiled “ A New Dimension in Career Counseling: A Case Study of Jorhat College Job Fair.” He emphasized on the need to test the employability of the degree holders, to short out the areas of their deficiency and to find out measures for their upliftment. In order to meet these problems he offers career counseling cells, computer classes, programmes on how to face interviews, programmes on entrepreneurship etc. as some solutions.

The second paper was presented by Dr. R.N. Sabhapandit,Utpal Deks and Ratul Borah of Bihpuria College.

The title of the paper was “Collegiate Education vis-à-vis Employment Opportunities in Assam—A Study”.

In their paper they pointed out some of the salient features of collegiate education in Assam and then gave some suggestions to increase the employability of students. They suggested in their paper that Educational planners should rethink and restructure the present curriculum and the improvement of labour skills. They also points out that there should be a correlation between society and syllabi. They suggested that higher education should be limited to only desiring students.

In his key-note address in the afternoon session, Dr. Rajiv Handique points out different stages of application of best practices in collegiate education system. The successful application of the best practices depends on the ability to adopt the five-stage strategy popularized by NAAC ie, the four “I”s and the D. The stages are Identification of the best practices, Implementation of the best practices, Institutionalization of the best practices, Internalization of the best practices and finally the D in the model indicates the Dissemination of the best practices. According to him, best practices need to spread out and get replicated and tested in the process.

In the second technical session of the day, the first paper was presented by Mrs. Deepanjali Gogoi, lecturer, Sonari College. The topic was “Present Education System and Employability of Students”. In the very outset of the paper she pointed out the present scenario of the education system in North-east and specially Assam. According to her, only one percent of students are getting quality education in collegiate education and hence producing an array of unemployed graduates. She laid emphasis on employability enhancing skills like information technology skills, soft skills or communication skills. She moved on to state that employees always want work-ready graduates. She stressed the importance of skilled man-power which can be achieved by developing awareness and soft-skills.

The second paper was presented by Siddartha Pait and Pronob Phukon of Sarupathar College, Golaghat. The title of the paper was “Identification of Some Best Practices in Higher Educational Institutions in North-east India”. The paper attempted to identify the best practices which can be adopted without state-of-the-art infrastructural equipments. Some of the best practices that could be incorporated into the Higher Educational Institutions of North-east were identified as (a) setting up of medicine men network with people who have expertise on traditional herbal medicine. (b) mass education programmes should be taken up in the field of health, nutrition and hygiene, (c) village industries like designing furniture would be set up.(d) setting up of tea-plantation consulting services. (e) setting up of micro hydro projects (f) best practices in form of social justice and empowerment programmes among tribal communities etc.

The third paper was “Best Practices in Collegiate Education”, presented by Mr. Hemanga Ranjan Chutia, lecturer, S.M.D. College, Charing. In his paper he brings out some prospects of best practices to adopt by colleges. Some of them are—to help teachers in modifying and improving their teaching methodologies, identification of weak learners and proper attention to them, to open transparent communication channel between teachers and students, developing confidence in the mind of the examinees regarding the examination system, organizing training and awareness programme for the teachers and employees relating to examinations etc. He also focuses the importance to develop a sense of greater responsibility and belongingness to the institute among the students.

PAPER PRESENTATION: DAY TWO 26^TH AUGUST 2009

Chairperson-----------Prof. Kumud Borah , Deptt. of Economics, Dibrugarh University

Resource person----- Prof. Homeswar Goswami, Retd Prof., Deptt. of Economics, Dibrugarh University.

Paper I: Efficacy in Management and Expectations of Stake Holders

By Mr. Sunil Dutta, Lecturer in English, Sonari College.

Paper II: A Stake-Holder’s Perspective on Quality in Higher Educational Institutions.

By Dr. Aniruddha Boruah and Breez Mohan Hazarika, D.C.B. Girls College, Jorhat

Paper III: Higher Education in Assam and the Problem of Unemployment

By Miss Sandeepa Gogoi and Miss Parishmita Chetia, Namrup College, Namrup

Paper IV: Teaching in College-A Challenge

By Mr. Dilip Ranjan Baruah, Lectuere, Sonari College, Sonari

Paper V: Need of the Synthesized Evaluation Practice in the development of Cognitive Behaviour at the Under Graduate Level of Education.

By Ranju Gohain and Sanjay Das, Sivasagar Girl’s College, Sivasagar

Paper VI: Class Room Seminars of the Students

By Dr. Rajen Tamuli, Principal, Sonari College.

The first paper of the day was presented by Mr. Sunil Dutta, lecturer of Sonari College. The topic of his seminar paper was “ Efficacy in Management and Expectation of Stake-holders”. He said in his paper that “best practices” should be attained by colleges for quality improvement and the management of the college must create an academic ambience congenial to the development of their leadership qualities for a knowledge society of a healthier nation. He also stresses the role of a principal in a college. The key to quality college is the quality leadership of the principal. Thus the efficacy in management rests a great deal on the qualities of the manager. Thus in the ultimate analysis, the personality of the Principal holds the key to efficacy in management.

The second paper was “Higher Institutions in Assam and the Problems of Unemployment” presented by Sandeepa Gogoi and Parishmita Chetia of Namrup College. In their paper they have analysed the problems of Higher Educational Institutions of present day Assam. They have given special emphasis on the problems of the institutions in rural areas as they are more in numbers. They have sorted out some recurrent problems in these institutions like lack of financial assistance, limited library facilities, lack of proper hostel facilities, lack of consciousness among guardians and the problem of medium to name a few.

Next paper was presented by Mr. Dilip Ranjan Baruah entitled “Teaching in College-A Challenge”. In this paper he stated that teacher, student and administrator are the key elements in the collegiate education and especially college teachers play a crucial role in the sphere of higher education. The paper laid emphasis on the fact that apart from disseminating knowledge teachers must also actively participate in transformation of education system. From his personal observations he records two reasons for students not securing higher percentage in degree examinations- lack of proper aim and the dearth of adherence in learning. The reason for this being the shift from objective type questions to long type questions, non-availability of text books in mother tongue, lack of consciousness in the students regarding the degree programme, mis-match between course content and the market requirements and a shortage of full time faculty.

The fourth paper was presented by Dr. Aniruddha Baruah and Breez Mohan Hazarika of D.C.B. Girls College, Jorhat. The topic of their paper was “A Stake-holder’s Perspective on Quality in Higher Educational Institutions”. In their paper they laid emphasis on the matter that Quality Assessment Cell should ascertain the quality of the teacher so that teaching may itself becomes a quality.

The fifth paper was presented by Dr. Rajen Tamuli, the Principal of Sonari College. The title of the paper was “The Classroom Seminars of the Students”. In his paper he said that different methods are adopted by different students for conducting classroom seminars among the students. Teacher helps the student to choose and prepare the topic. He gives importance on the use of proper multimedia system to make such programmes effective. This practice, according to him, requires well-committed teaching staffs that have the willingness and wishes to help students beyond teaching hours. Voluntary staff cooperation, institutional co-ordinations, optimum infrastructure and teamwork are essential.

The sixth and the final paper was “Need of a Synthesized Evaluation Practice in the Development of Cognitive Behaviour at the Under Graduate Level of Education”. It was presented by Rantu Gohain and Sanjay Das of Sivasagar Girls College, Sivasagar. In this paper they stated that teacher imparts teaching and interact with the students, they are able to identify and categorize the behaviour of students such as slow, mediocre, and fast learner. But the examination system makes no such differenciation between students and all have to answer within a definite time-frame. The paper highlights a synthesized learning procedure and recalls technique to evaluate students throughout the academic year at the under-graduate level