The two best practices of the institution are inextricably interwoven. The first is the Antarik Initiative. The word ‘antarik’ in Bengali means ‘earnest emotions’ or ‘sincerity of feeling’, and also relates to the ‘internal’. The second is the Parasparik Initiative. The word ‘parasparik’ in Bengali implies reciprocity and mutual interdependence, and relates to the links that bind the internal and external. The Antarik and Parasparik Initiatives as best practices therefore establish a link or continuum between the institution and the community or the society at large, and by extension, philosophically put, the self and the other. These two best practices also sums up how the institution conceives of itself and its relationship with what is beyond.

Best Practice 1:
Antarik Initiative (A bottom-up organizational system emphasizing on empathy, mutual understanding, depth andsincerity of feelings as core institutional values)

Social exclusion is universal. It usually manifests in a pattern, where a small minority of the population enjoys considerable economic and social opportunities, compared to the majority who are often left neglected and deprived. To bridge this gap, the college has been continually taking special initiatives to support the students who are mostly from the weaker and underprivileged sections of the community. The Antarik initiative therefore is an effort to empower the students and other stakeholders of the college, who are located in disadvantaged circumstances, compared to their metropolitan counterparts.

Objectives:

To ensure that students feel at ease with administrative decisions.

To ensure that a wide range of suggestions are collected from the stakeholders in order to make the best possible organizational policy.

To make higher education available and accessible as a part of public service.

To instill faith in higher education by motivating active involvement.

To create an atmosphere in college that is supportive of students coming from economically and socially disadvantaged backgrounds.

To generate awareness among the students about their rights and entitlements.

To guide and counsel them without paternalism and building an environment of friendship and mutual trust.

 

The Context:

The college is located in a socio-economically underprivileged rural area. Most of the students are first generational learners, and face lack of motivation, low self-esteem and disillusionment regarding the prospects of higher education. Students often face problems to approach the college authority due to bureaucratic formalism.

The Antarik Initiative is a student-oriented approach to management of education guided by the core values of empathy, depth and sincerity of feelings in transactions with the students. It aims to strike a balance between imperatives of contemporary higher education in contemporary times and the related doubts, anxieties and special needs of students in a predominantly rural area. In doing so the organization prioritize the students in framing institutional plans, policies, practices, establishment links and channels which facilitate empathetic communication across bureaucratic barriers.

The Practice:

The 5 Ms of the Antarik Initiative:

Mass Meetings– Discussions about various issues affecting the stake holders is addressed in these meetings. For instance, the Student Affairs Committee organizes periodic meets throughout the year for hearing students’ concerns. It also organizes various sessions relating to mental health concerns of the students and offers remedial measures.

Mission Groups– These are the various student support committees which sensitize the students about their rights, entitlements and obligations, for instance, the Scholarship Committees, West Bengal Student Credit Card Committee, Kanyashree Club and Career Counseling Cell.

Mitigation Channels– These are the statutory cells which address student grievances. Mitigating channels sensitize students about infringement of rights and modes of redressal. Various committees like Student Grievance Redressal Cell, Anti Ragging Committee, Visakha Cell, RTI Cell continuously work towards student’s welfare by serving as mitigation channels.

Mentoring Sessions – These are one-to-one sessions between the mentors and the students concerning the challenges faced by each student. Periodic mentoring sessions are held to address academic and allied queries of students and forward them to the higher authorities depending on the magnitude and urgency of the concern or grievance.

Meet-The-HOI– Apart from these links and channels the students can directly approach the HOI on every Wednesday, 3 p.m. onwards without any prior appointment, on a walk-in basis.

 

Evidence of Success:

Large number of students coming from underprivileged backgrounds have completed their programmes and acquired degrees.

Positive feedback has been received from the students as well as the parents.

Confidence levels and communication skills of the students have enhanced.

Students have developed competencies in terms of knowledge, skills and a proactive attitude to life and career.

Increase rate of admission of students from the underprivileged section of the society.

This system has led to the promotion of equality and diversity through inclusion.

 

Challenges:

Students still hesitate to communicate.

Lack of knowledge about the functioning of a student centric systemleads to the inability to harness the merits of a higher authority that is accessible, available and empathetic.

Taking all stakeholders concerns and grievances into account and deriving balanced administrative decisions is another challenge.

 

Best Practice 2:
Parasparik Initiative (A school-college-community-civic body nexus based on inter-institutional and community linkage as guiding principles)

Higher education institution cannot flourish in isolation. To meet the purpose of higher education, schools, colleges, the community and civic bodies need to come together. Through the Parasparik Initiative the college not only ensures its growth through the pooling of human and material resources, it also reiterates its responsibility as a public service institution to contribute to the wellbeing of the larger community and become responsible citizens with cosmopolitan values beyond the immediate social hierarchies and myopic visions. The Parasparik Initiative, GGDC, Mangalkote therefore envisions creating an interdependent and inclusive environment within and beyond the campus.

 

Objective:

Create widespread awareness about the potential of higher education working as a nodal point in the nexus.

Facilitate progression of learners from local school to higher educational institution.

Transmit social and environmental sensibility to the schools, community and civic bodies.

Create sense of unity and social responsibility among students.

 

The Context:

The college is located in a rural area where literacy rate is low and most students are first generational learners. Schools and colleges in the area face high dropout rate due to job related and marriage related migration. Disillusionment regarding higher education institution is rampant as a result of which schools and higher educational institutions have poor admission rates and enrolled students display lack of interest in higher education.

 

The Practice:

5Cs of Parasparik Initiative:

Count in – Include each other in various initiatives as contributors and participants.

Count on – Rely and bank on each other in crisis situations.

Co-operate –Work together.

Collaborate – Pool resources towards specific ends and goals

Co-Exist – Recognize mutual embeddedness in the larger social and environmental context.

Different types of extension and outreach activities have been organized collaboratively with the neighboring schools, community, villages and civic bodies in the vicinity. MoUs and linkages with the industry and civic bodies in the vicinity have facilitated training sessions and capacity building programmes through industrial visits. Invited lectures, both online and offline, faculty and student exchange programmes with local schools and colleges, and sharing of library and laboratory resources have enhanced and enriched the learning experience of the student community as a whole.

 

Evidence of Success

Leadership quality of the students has enhanced.

Many students have opted for career in social work sector as a result of the exposure and learning they have received from the outreach programs.

Greater number of students from underprivileged backgrounds are enrolling for the undergraduate programme and receiving their degrees.

Outreach activities have been reported in newspapers and covered by media.

School children have benefit from MoUs immensely. They have visited the laboratories and experienced the automated library facilities of the college.

MoUs and collaborations with civic bodies have helped promote awareness about cleanliness, waste management, green initiative and plastic pollution.

 

Challenges

Remote location.

Limited financial resources.

Poor and limited transportation facilities hinder movement.