‘Whopping 95% Students Ready to Take Online Classes’- Fr Praveen Martis Sj-Principal of St Aloysius College
‘Whopping 95% Students Ready to Take Online Classes’- Fr Praveen Martis Sj-Principal of St Aloysius College (Autonomous), Mangaluru, a College with a history of 140 years, where lakhs of students who have passed through the portals of this institution have rendered outstanding service to humankind not only in India but across the globe. And during the 140 year Saga, this institution with the motto, “Lucet et Ardet” which means “Shine To Enkindle”, has inspired countless students to become men and women with and for others, and thus bringing light and joy into the lives of people. It is for this reason that Jesuit education has become a touchstone for evolving new paradigms in higher education. (For More details Ref: St Aloysius College- 140 year Saga of Forming Men and Women For and With Others……. )
Mangaluru: St Aloysius College (Autonomous) belongs to a network of educational institutions administered by the members of the Society of Jesus, a religious order which runs schools, colleges and universities in more than 105 countries in the world. The members of the order, popularly known as Jesuits, have acquired a reputation for excellence in the quality of education. Some of the distinguished Jesuit institutions of higher education in India are St Xavier’s College in Kolkata, St Xavier’s College in Mumbai, Loyola College in Chennai, St Joseph’s College in Trichy, Xavier Institute of Labour Relations (XLRI) in Jameshedpur, and Xavier University in Bhuvaneshwar. These and many other highly acclaimed centres of learning are managed by the Jesuits and deeply rooted in Jesuit values of commitment and excellence.
Established in 1880, St Aloysius College prides itself in its history of 140 years. Thousands of students who have passed through the portals of this institution have rendered outstanding service to humankind not only in India but across the globe. Despite its status as a minority institution, the college has imparted high quality education to all sections of society regardless of caste, colour or creed. The motto of the college, “Lucet et Ardet” which means “Shine To Enkindle” has inspired countless students to become men and women with and for others and thus bring light and joy into the lives of people. It is for this reason that Jesuit education has become a touchstone for evolving new paradigms in higher education.
In more than four centuries of their existence, the Society of Jesus has gained the public image and reputation as a democratic, charitable and not-for-profit organization committed to creating a transformed society with the collaboration of professionals and leaders. The focus of Jesuit education has always been and will ever continue to be academic excellence and development of the integral personality of the students. To put it succinctly, the aim of Jesuit education is to form citizens imbued with competence, conscience, compassion and commitment, who, in turn, reach out to the weaker and marginalized sections of humanity empowering them to enhance their quality of life and contribute to nation building.
In April 2020, St Aloysius College responded quickly to the challenge of Covid-19 pandemic and launched an exclusive e-learning portal ( https://sac-elearning.com/ ) of its own. The main aim of launching the e-learning portal was to offer various types of courses, on online activities to engage the staff and students to follow continuous learning in spite of the pandemic. More than 50 free online certificate courses were offered to students and the public. More than 4,000 students and teachers from more than 300 institutions from India and abroad took part in these courses. This initiative has enhanced the public image of the College at the global level. In addition, the College has been organizing several webinars on very contemporary topics during the pandemic and that initiative has received global recognition. The exclusive institutional e-learning portal, on the other hand, will continue to serve the educational and career growth needs of the student community across the globe.
The “magis”, the Jesuit word for relentless pursuit of excellence, was the formula that prompted the Jesuits and their students to engage in innovative research and discovery in the fields of science, mathematics, astronomy, geographic explorations, study of languages and study of world religions. From LKG to PhD, St Aloysius Institutions offer them all. The 140 year old College has emerged as Mangaluru’s premier educational hub with lakhs of students who have passed out of its portals, earning laurels in varied fields. St Aloysius College became the first institution in the coastal region to completely go online for admissions since 2017. The College has Undergraduate Programmes; Postgraduate Programmes, along with many other Courses. The college comprises 80% locals, 5% NRIs and rest from Kerala and North East.
The College was awarded autonomous status in the year 2007. Autonomy has offered better exposure to the teachers and the institution has to function like a university. Similarly, the administrative staff have been groomed to support the system. The college has been taking care of the financial and housing needs of the staff through registered cooperative credit and housing societies. Autonomy has been fully utilized in offering regularly updated, contemporary and relevant curriculum. The syllabus has been under constant review and undergone a change once in every three years. Autonomy has provided the College with an opportunity to adopt examination reforms. Evaluation has been continuous and objective.The examination calendars, the process of the examinations, certification and the timely announcement of the results have added greater credibility to the system.
St Aloysius College has been gifted with erudite and excellent teaching faculty which is on par with any higher education institute of international repute. The College has 256 teaching staff and 166 administrative, multitasking support staff. 78 members of the faculty have PhD as the highest qualification and 53 staff have registered, also pursuing at various stages of their research work. More than 130 of them have qualified the eligibility test like NET and K-SET. In 1986, realizing the need for women’s education, St Aloysius College which was exclusively a men’s college became a co-educational institution by admitting girl students which was the need of the hour. Reading the signs of the time, the Jesuits embarked on this sensitive decision and today, it takes pride in accommodating 50-60% of the annual admission of girl students. This decision has made a significant difference in the status of education among women in this region.
We all know, following the announcement of PUC results, there would be serpentine queues in front of prestigious colleges for new admissions, and it was a common sight until recently in Dakshina Kannada, including Mangaluru. With Covid-19 playing spoilsport, this year, the admission process, including interviews, has gone online. Several colleges, which have cut off marks for admissions, are giving it up this year as they fear it will not attract candidates. Some colleges have already admitted students for UG courses and are likely to go for online classes from September first week. At St Aloysius College, they have been already accepting online applications and scrutinizing them. It should be noted that St Aloysius college had gone online four years back and it is now coming handy, and the admission process has already begun.
Rev Fr Praveen Martis SJ, the Principal of St Aloysius College (Autonomous), Mangaluru, who has been taking hundreds of calls daily from the students, eagerly waiting to enrol at this prestigious college, speaking to Team Mangalorean said, ” Warm greetings from St Aloysius College (Autonomous), Mangaluru! It is indeed my pleasure to greet every student as we begin the new academic year. This year has been different to all educational institutions in more than one way’s. As we used to having the excitement of seeing the surge of thousands of students into the campus, this year we had the unique experience of meeting the students and parents online due to the COVID-19 pandemic”.
Rev Fr Praveen Martis SJ- Principal of St Aloysius College
“We wanted to ensure that our students don’t lose touch with the learning rhythm and continue to enjoy the need and speed of learning through online classes. There has been a tremendous positive response to online classes from the parents and teachers as well. More than 94% of the students expressed their desire to learn online. We were pleasantly surprised to see a whopping 95% regularity attendance to online classes. Besides, we are proud of the challenging venture that all the departments and faculty took up by engaging thousands of students and the public during the lockdowns through more than 50 Free Online Certificate Courses and more than 70 Free national and international level webinars” added Fr Martis Sj.
He further said, “Our College has been one of the first Colleges to adopt online admission four years ago. This mode has ensured transparency and accountability in admissions. It is heartening to know that the number of applications for various Programmes has been steadily increasing during the past few years. We have started our admissions online end to end, right from filling and submitting the application till the final admission including interviews through video calls with candidates and their parents. We find that there is an increased enthusiasm for enrolment this year”.
“The College has been introducing new state of the art and trendsetting programmes taking into consideration the career prospects and research avenues of the future. Hence we invite students to apply online immediately to various courses offered by the College and welcome you to be a part of an educational heritage of 140 years. The institution is evolving an exciting blended learning model that would immensely help students to absorb concepts and acquire skills that will make them globally competent and build resilience to face challenges posed by disasters and pandemics.” concluded Fr Praveen Martsi SJ.
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