BEST PRACTICE 1:

TITLE: CLEAN CAMPUS GREEN CAMPUS

OBJECTIVES OF THE PRACTICE:

The idea of creating a clean and green campus inside the College was implemented in the academic session of 2019- 2020 as one of its best practices with the following objectives:

·         To make the students aware of their responsibility of keeping their educational environment clean and free from unnecessary waste objects to ensure a pollution-free environment

·         Planting of saplings within the campus to create the look of a greener campus in the coming years.

·         Also make the students develop the sense of working together in good faith and camaraderie.

THE CONTEXT:

“Cleanliness is next to Godliness”. Keeping this in mind the College planned to perform a cleanliness drive with the help of its NSS team and other willing participants as well as teachers. Since the College is situated in a dry and dusty area with a National Highway running in front of it, the need to reduce pollution by keeping the environment clean through the reduction of unplanned waste disposal and implementing the practice of cleaning the Campus, as well as the planting of green plants to reduce pollution and enhance the beauty of the environment was the contextual history before the conception of this practice.

THE PRACTICE:

 The above best practice was followed in the following process:

·         A meeting was conducted among the teachers, NSS team and student participants to decide upon the plan of action and desired date of the practice which was supposed to take place within the Campus.

·         A certain amount of budget was fixed for carrying out the program.

·         Several utensils were bought from the market which could be used on the day of the program and saplings were either bought or obtained from neighboring villages to plant them in the vicinity of the College.

·         A small cultural program was planned and organized by the College cultural committee on the day of the practice.

·         The program began in the early morning with good faith in which teachers and students came together with the great idea of adhering to the Cleanliness program

·         The entire College was divided into five sections to be taken up by five groups of students headed by representative teachers.

·         The frontal garden, the Canteen and the College courtyard, the ground floor building, the first floor and the second-floor building, the Field and the surroundings of the College were the five areas taken up by these five groups.

·         Water and other cleaning utensils were provided in ample quantity along with some light refreshments from the College in between the cleaning program which continued until sundown.

·         It required a great deal of effort as it was physically challenging for both the teachers and the students who were determined to fulfill their target on that day.

·         An awareness campaign was held by the NSS regarding the necessity of maintaining good habits like flushing of toilets, using the dustbin as per requirement, being non-violent to nature and its beings etc.

·         The program extended on the first half of the next day as well in which the plantation program was carried out. Young saplings were planted all around the campus by the teachers and students participating in the program.

·         It was hoped that these plants will be taken good care by the gardener and NSS team of our college in the future in order to ensure the evolution of a greener campus within the institution to battle the growing pollution in and around it.

EVIDENCE OF SUCCESS:

The above-mentioned practice was highly effective in building a cleaner and greener environment within the College campus. It promoted the perspective of keeping up a clean conscience to work along with people in all kinds of diverse circumstances. The campus also received an aesthetic boost at all levels with the motto of a clean and green environment.

PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED AND RESOURCES REQUIRED

Battling exhaustion and fatigue was one of the many difficulties faced by the participants in this program. Teachers and students were however extremely happy to be a part of this practice which expanded their horizon and scope of working together in the future as well. The awareness of keeping up a clean environment could be directly linked with the idea of maintaining a clean conscience among the students and teachers of the institution.

BEST PRACTICE 2

TITLE:

 INTEGRATION OF A REGIONAL LANGUAGE UNDERGRADUATE COURSE INTO THE CURRICULUM: THE PRACTICE OF TEACHING AND LEARNING IN THE SANTALI DEPARTMENT

OBJECTIVES:

The Santali Department of this institution came into being in 2007 which was just one year after the establishment of the College. It had the following objectives:

·         Incorporating the study of a regional language in the form of a Course to be taken up by students in both Honours and General programs by following the University guidelines.

·          Decentralizing the myth of ‘the centre’ and ‘the periphery’ by granting similar value to Santali Language and Literature like all other subjects taught.

·         Encouraging the non-tribal students to become aware of the rich cultural heritage of Santali Literature.

THE CONTEXT:

The College is located within a tribal area and thus named after two famous tribal freedom fighters, it was inevitable that the language and literature of the Tribal Communities be incorporated into the mainstream of the institution’s curriculum so that it could ensure the abolition of a discriminating attitude towards Tribal Community and its culture through a regular practice of cohabitation between the Tribal and non- Tribal learners getting admitted in the institution. The unavailability of any other higher educational institution in the district to impart an undergraduate degree to the students of the University of Burdwan also became another major reason behind the establishment of the Santali department in the College.

THE PRACTICE:

·         The General and Honours Courses for the subject had been continuing since 2007 and 2008 respectively and the department had evolved to a great extent since then.

·         There have been several non-tribal students showing their interest in the subject over the past few years and they are allowed to become an integral part of the department through the mutual bonding shared by the teachers and students of the department.

·         Teachers prefer teaching in a bilingual mode in the class due to the diversity in the student background.

·         They learn to read and write in the Ol Chiki language and become well-versed in the intricacies of the language in the course of their study.

·         The students of the department generally come from agrarian economic backgrounds due to which they can maintain their humble standard within the department.

·         They are also made to participate in all cultural programs, extra- extracurricular activities like sports, quiz competitions, exhibitions etc to enrich the institution with their shining presence.

·         Regular internal examinations and departmental programs were conducted in the academic session of 2019- 2020 until the country was hit by the global Pandemic in March 2020.

·         A transparent system of providing scholarships is made available by the institution for the underprivileged tribal minority students of the department.

·         Regular celebrations are not possible without the Santali department taking a leading role in the cultural programs specific to their culture and origin. The Freshers’ welcome and Teachers’ Day of the College celebrated in the academic session of 2019- 2020 would have been incomplete without their support.

·         Teachers also make sure that the tribal students can naturally adapt to the general ambiance of the institution and feel like they are in a second home as long as they are in the institution.

·         A special provision for the tribal students exists in the form of the Santali Hostel in the College.

EVIDENCE OF SUCCESS: 

The Santali department is highly successful as students have been able to overcome their barriers and overcome their limitations by reaching out to the larger world by getting placed in further degrees as well as taking part in research projects in higher educational institutions. There has also been an increase in the number of students in the department since 2007.

PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED AND RESOURCES:

Several problems like the scarcity of funds available at our disposal, the low availability of books, the problem of proper reference material etc have always been there to challenge the progress of the practice. Moreover, most of the students are first-generation learners and come from economically poor backgrounds. The teachers of the institution are however able to overcome these issues through complete dedication and diligence throughout the year which is manifested in the happiness that the students spread by their presence in the institution.