Best Practices

Kovai Kalaimagal College of Arts and Science implements the following two best practices for the students to succeed by focusing on their academic careers and to shape the overall personality of each individual by overcoming their educational and financial backgrounds.

Best Practice : 1 Finishing School Programme

Best Practice : 2 Educational/Sports Scholarship

BEST PRACTICE 1

1. Title of Practice: Finishing School Programme

Finishing School Programme (FSP) is on of the best practice followed to improve the employability skills and for the enhancement of their personality that is crucial in determining the overall personality and character to prepare them for the workforce. The students acquire practical exposure to balance theoretical and academic learning. The objective of Finishing School Programme is to educate next generation leaders so that they will be competent professionals in their field of study and will be prepared for multidisciplinary domains by enhancing their employability and overall skills. Training program under FSP include several modules.

Name    :   Employability Training Programme

Organizer   :   HR representatives/Trainers from MNC

Duration   :   3 to 4 weeks.

Course content   :   Technical aptitude, peer pressure management,

Employee relations, performance management,

Team work, collaboration, scheduling, etc

Participants   :    Final and Pre-final year students

Name     :    Campus Connect-Skill Development Programme

Organizer     :     Infosys

Duration    :     80 Hrs.

Course content    :     Presentation, speaking, writing, listening, reading, transaction and other skills.

Participants     :    Final year students

Name     :     Affirmative Action Training Programme

Organizer     :     TCS

Duration     :     100 Hrs.

Course content     :     English communication, Basic corporate etiquette, self confidence, test & interview skills. etc

Participants     :     Final year students

Name     :    Financial Literacy Programme

Organizer    :     ICT ACADEMY

Duration     :     200 Hrs.

Course content    :     Finance, Banking, Insurance, Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Technology, Leadership, etc.

Participants     :    Final year students

2. Objectives of the Practice

The Finishing School Programme strives to give students a comprehensive educational experience focusing on the professional qualifications. The main objective of this programme is to lay the foundation for the students to become tomorrow’s leaders. The students gain an understanding of the numerous talents that need to be cultivated in them through this Finishing School programme to become employable and be chosen by the companies in campus interviews. The following aspects are targeted and achieved in this programme.

• To formulate the students employable

• To strengthen communication skills

• To develop Aptitude and Mathematical Skills

• To foster self confidence

• To promote Interpersonal relationships

• To prepare students for the workforce

• To amplify positive attitude

• To promote Interview skills

• To enrich fundamental domain expertise

• To instil finer aspects of various etiquettes

3. Context

Our college is located in a rural area where majority of the students who are admitted into the various programmes come from the local villages. A huge volume of students studied in the regional languages for their higher secondary education,first graduate students and are from low-income families. Thus, they lack in English communication skills, which worsen their self confidence and interpersonal relationship. Additionally, they need to improve their fundamental subject knowledge and mathematical aptitude in order to be more employable. These programs train the students to deal with business skills, quantitative skills, data interpretation, reasoning, basics of programming languages, interview preparation and so on. And also emphasis on personality development, imparting technical skills, social and business etiquettes at their finest, as well as international protocols, art of decision making, smart work life balance, with the goal of creating individuals who will lead the corporate world in the future. These skill set are significant to balance their professional and personal life. It is a platform for the young students to come together and get inspired to prepare themselves for the next generation. It focuses on variety of topics which are key factors for the youth to shape the future.

4. Practice

HR representatives from Multinational companies, Professional trainers, Notable Alumni, Final year students and a few professors who have specialized in certain areas of training are invited to train them in areas of different employability skills necessary for campus placements as part of Finishing School Programme. Several tests are conducted based on numerical reasoning, logical ability and verbal ability. The employment needs served as the basis for creating the syllabus. Students are given proper training in aptitude questions to determine individual capacity. They also receive rigorous training to enhance their English communication skills, Interpersonal relationship, Mathematical Aptitude, Resume writing, Personality development, interview skills and active participation in group discussion. After the completion of the training programs, the students practice on the four areas such as employability, entrepreneurship and skill based education. The skills acquired by the students improve their placement chances in reputed companies. And also these training programmes serve as the foundation for appearing to UPSC, TNPSC and Competitive examinations.

5. Evidence of Success

The effectiveness of this programme can be seen in the students who have been successfully placed in various companies by their enhanced communication abilities, expert presentation skills and group discussion abilities. The students who participate in the Finishing School Programme each year demonstrate the following remarkable transformation as a result of the programme.

• Mathematical and Aptitude skills are strengthened

• Ability to clear their screening test in the campus drives is improved

• Capable of presenting themselves in group discussions

• Able to attend the interviews with a positive attitude

• Speak confidently and fearlessly in English

• Time and situational management level is better

• Basic domain knowledge is augmented

• Able to get placements in reputed companies.

• Percentage of student placements in campus interviews for FSP students has improved tremendously and always percentage of placements lies between 90% - 95%

6. Problems Encountered and Resources Required

Though the students voluntarily enroll to undergo this training programme, after a few days some students stop showing up consistently since they have part time jobs in the afternoon. Sometimes students find difficulty in concentrating, difficulty in recalling facts, figures and techniques, which causes a delay in the development of communication skills among such students. As a result of this, students are less motivated to learn. Due to the lack of time management, students who were working part-time also suffered. Furthermore, because some of the students come from extremely low-income families, it is challenging to inspire them to actively participate in order to improve their confidence level.

BEST PRACTICE 2

1. Title of Practice : Educational Scholarship

KKCAS cares for the underprivileged, needy and talented students by providing scholarship to educate the rural students. Our Intuition offers Merit Scholarship for meritorious students, Sports Scholarship for those who excel in sports and games, Management Scholarship for economically weaker section and the wards of our faculty, NGO Scholarship through other non-governmental organizations, Alumni Scholarship through KKCAS Alumni Association, PG scholarship for pursuing Post Graduation for our alumni and SC/ST scholarship from state government.

2. Objective

1. To facilitate admission for talented and meritorious students.

2. To provide merit scholarship for the students who excel in education.

3. To provide sports scholarship to the students who excel in sports.

4. To provide management scholarship for the students of poor and marginalized community.

5. To arrange and provide NGO scholarships for the tribal students.

6. To provide alumni scholarships through Alumni Association.

7. To provide scholarships for the wards of our faculty

8. To provide special scholarship for the students who lost their parents.

9. To facilitate the students to receive scholarship provided by Government.

3. Context

Merit Scholarships are provided to deserving students with financial support so that they can pursue their educational goals. The merit of a student is assessed for merit-based scholarship on their academic performance. The students those who have obtained marks in Higher Secondary Examination in percentage between 75% and 84% will gain 50% scholarship and percentage between 85% and 94% will gain 75% scholarship. And also those who have obtained percentage between 95% and 100% will gain 100% scholarship.

Kovai Kalaimagal Educational Trust is providing scholarship to the students who are economically Backward, Socially Downtrodden, Orphan and Single parent for every semester. The students who fall under any of this category will gain 25% and 50% scholarship based on their family state of affairs. This kind of scholarship is provided to encourage the students to pursue their Higher Education in our college.

The Students who achieved in Sports and games are given Scholarship based on their achievement level. The State Level scholarship is provided to students achieved in individual event with 100% and students achieved in group event with 50%. The Distinct Level scholarship is provided to students achieved in individual event with 50% and students achieved in group event with 25%.

The institution also supports scholarship provided by other NGOs like Isha, Casagrand, Edudharma, etc. Kovai Kalaimagal Educational Trust and ISHA Foundation jointly provide the Scholarship to the socially/Economically backward students. The College provide 50% Scholarship and the remaining 50% will be given by ISHA foundation to those students. Casa Grand offers 50% scholarship to students based on merit and economically weaker students. Edudharma is an non-profit organization offering scholarship to economically weaker students based on the family situtation.

Scholarships by Alumni are given to the students based on their family income and academic performance. Alumni association provides the way to raise funds for the Alumni. Giving back to an alumni association is an excellent method to maintain the college relationship alive and ensuring the upcoming students will have the chance to pursue higher education.

The College also guides the students to avail Scholarship for Backward Classes (SC/ST) from the Government. The total annual family income should not exceed Rs 2.5(in lakhs). The students must have obtained 50% marks in Higher Secondary Examinations. The students must be enrolled in an academic programme at a Tamil Nadu-based institution. In order to address them, income certificate serves as the primary evidence and family background for assurance. Institution takes maximum efforts revive scholarship funds from the government.

The students who studied their UG Degree Programme in our College are given special scholarship of Rs. 2000 for each semester to pursue their Post Graduation in our institution.

The Scholarships/Concessions are extended to the wards of employees working in the College. The scholarship which ranges from 25% to 100% is given to the wards of the employees in the Tuition fees. These practices give recognition to their service and respect for their works for the institution.

4. Practice:

The institution is ever alert to support their progress and offer guidance to all students. Institution has a well-established Mentor-mentee system. Mentors are a key contact point for each and every student of the institutes. Many of the students are beneficiaries of scholarships, Tuition fee waivers and Scheme based on government policies. This educational scholarship is only for the student who fulfils the following conditions.

1. The student should have a good academic (merit) background.

2. The student must either belong to SC/ST category or minority background

3. The student must be from economically poor background.

4. Orphan and Single parent students are only benefitted by Management scholarship.

5. Wards of our Faculty.

6. Achievers in Sports at District and State levels.

7. Alumni of the college (for PG courses)

As there is no restriction for the number of students for claiming scholarship, we assure the right persons are benefitted. It is done under the guidance of the Principal and above-mentioned conditions. Teachers are appointed as tutors and serve students in all aspects, including instructions to acquire for government scholarships. Students are given proper counselling to know more about the scholarships and they are informed through their class tutors and management. For other scholarships, we adhere to the guidelines and restrictions provided by the relevant organizations. The practice is distinctive due to its dedication to rural and economically & socially deprived people. Additionally, this scheme helps a lot of students who are orphans and single parent.

5. Evidence of Success

The success of the scheme is evident through the growing amount of monetary contribution being made by the management, Alumni, Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs), Government, etc. The commitment of the above-mentioned sectors is quite proportional to its success.

Around 200+ students avail the scholarship facility per year and the success rate is very good due to excellent placements. In the last five years, 1000+ students are benefitted with scholarship facility and it equals 45% of total strength of the institution every academic year. Most of the students who have obtained scholarship in our institution are presently working in various countries in the world and their standard of living has improved.

A few of our notable Alumni’s are listed below:

1. Mr.BalaKrishnan Narayanan

Executive Vice President APAC

Zalaris ASA, Norway.

2. Mrs.Sengamalam Chinnasamy

Product Manager, Sony Motion Pictures

Los Angeles, Califonia.

3. Mr.Antony Kurian

Delivery Manager, Mainframe Services Kyndryl, Chennai.

4. Mr.V.V.Anand

Senior Manager, Karur Vysya Bank Coimbatore.

5. Mr.Arun Kumar

Production Manager, Myco Industry, Coimbatore.

6. Mr.Adhavaraj Jothiraj

Managing Director, Go Vacations, Digital Academy 360 & My Del Café Malaysia.

7. Mrs.N.C. Amirthavalli

Senior Vice President, State Bank of India, Regional Head Office, Dubai.

8. Mr.Vijayaraj

State Commissioner Hsg /State Representative International Pythiyan Council, Tamilnadu State Government Service Tamilnadu

6. Problems encountered and Resources required:

• It is very difficult to identify the deserving students in each category based on the required documents and evidences that are not timely submitted.

• Opportunities from various sources are not utilized in some peculiar cases due to difficulty in processing time.

• Many students are from rural areas and it is difficult for them to use the latest ICT technologies at the initial period of admission.

• Discovering the Government/ Non-governmental Organizations offering student scholarship is a challenging task since there is no official database. As a result, only established sources are used to arrange the scholarships.

• Creating bank account to get scholarships of various government schemes especially for the students in the first year is challenging within the due date.