Assessment Report on
Institutional Accreditation of
St. Christopher’s College of Education
“No service to India, could be greater than the education of women” was the guiding premise on which the college was founded in 1923 by Miss. K. Nora Brockway the founder Principal and visionary. The founder principal could see the potential of women teachers and their vital role in nation building much before Independence. The college which was started with 12 students and 3 staff members; is today a premier institution in pedagogical sciences; fulfilling 3 major objectives, teaching, research and extension, for which the college was created. The college is affiliated to the University of Madras and has been conferred autonomy by the UGC in 1989 based on its infrastructure and past performance.
The college offers Bachelor of Education, Master of Education, Master of Philosophy and interdisciplinary research programmes in the filed of education leading to Ph.D. The college volunteered to be assessed and accredited and therefore submitted a Self-Study Report to NAAC. In response to this request the NAAC constituted the Peer Team consisting of Prof. M. Malla Reddy, formerly Vice-Chancellor of Osmania University as Chairman and Prof. D. S. Shivananda, retired professor of education, Bangalore University as member. The Peer Team visited the college on 25 January, 2000 and examined the performance of the institution, its infrastructure, curricular programmes and interacted with faculty, students, alumnae, parents, non-teaching staff in addition to the Principal and Management. The following report is the result of the academic exercise undertaken by the Peer Team.
It is an autonomous college of 11 years standing affiliated to the University of Madras. It offers certificate, diploma, graduate and postgraduate courses. It is recognised by the UGC under 2f and 12B. Even though it is a single faculty college it has 10 departments namely English, Tamil, mathematics, physical sciences, biological sciences, home science, history, geography, computer education, commerce & accountancy. Each department is headed by one member of the teaching staff. Each department has its own library and other facilities. The motto of the founder members of the college is “A Teacher’s devoted service to children is service to God”. This motto is reflected in various activities of the college.
The college undertakes to prepare teachers who are intelligent, social minded vocationally prepared and committed to the cause of education. The goal is also geared towards the cause of welfare of women. The Women’s Studies Centre established in 1976 responds to the needs of women in the context of their problems in society. The centre focuses on four thrust areas-education, economic competence training and research.
Since it is an autonomous college, it enjoys more flexibility and diversity with regard to academic and co-curricular programmes. It has various optional subjects and electives. Every student has an opportunity to select two optional subjects. Out of these two, they have freedom to select one according to their specialisation at the degree level and the second one is allotted to the students by the college. It has as many as 12 co-curricular activities. The participation in the activities is compulsory.
The college offers certificate, diploma (D.T.Ed.) and B.Ed., M.Ed., M.Phil. and Ph.D. degree programmes. It also offers the B.Ed. programme for students of M.Com. from this one year under “self-financing mode”. One gratifying thing worthy to note is that this college has developed links with Charlotte Mason College of England and also developed academic links with universities outside India, namely, Japan, Korea, Philippines etc.
It has also realised the importance of in-service programmes to teachers to keep abreast of the latest innovations taking place in the field of education and it offers sound and valuable programmes to teachers working at the higher secondary, secondary, middle and primary schools which are in the city of Madras. The college has organised conferences, seminars and workshops at national and state levels focussing on various aspects of teaching, Management, school education etc, for the benefit of teachers.
Faculty members are encouraged to participate in seminars, orientation courses, workshops and refresher courses in order to get them, oriented towards innovations in education and also encouraged to acquire higher degrees. The college has 14 permanent teachers and 4 part-time teachers. All of them are highly qualified.
The college has a number of academic bodies like Boards of Studies and Academic Council. The members of these bodies play a vital role in upgrading the syllabi periodically and making them more relevant to society and industry. It has a very ambitious plan and programme for the future focussing on innovations, qualitative improvement of teaching and teaching practices and professional growth of teachers.
The response to the dire need of educators to the demands of changing technology and career-options cannot be ignored on grounds of idealism. The use if education technology to effect a paradigm shift in pedagogy from psychological obsession with classical methods of instruction to skill development and modern ideas of class-room teaching (CLT for instance) may be considered expeditiously.
Criterion II: Teaching-learning and Evaluation
The college works for 210 days in a year which includes teaching(150 days), Practice-teaching(40 days), tests and examinations and admission(20 days). Students are selected for various courses through a combination of special entrance test, interviews and their academic records. Teachers look after the academic progress of the students as well as personal difficulties and extend all help when required. Regular meetings are held by one teacher with wards every month in order to build a healthy interpersonal relationship. Apart from the regular classroom teaching the academic activities are carried out through seminars, project work, field trips, quiz, assembly programmes, written assignments, panel discussions etc. The college has a good technology laboratory, which consists of OHP, slide projector, filmstrip projector, 16- mm film projector etc. Students are motivated not only to operate these but also use these in their practice teaching. Students are encouraged to prepare slides, filmstrips and other audio-visual aids, which supplement their classroom teaching.
The college has periodical assessment to evaluate the student’s progress. The assessment carried out is continuous; assignments, seminars and other activities form an integral part of the evaluation process. Evaluation is carried out in two phases. Phase-one is exclusively dealt by the teachers offering the courses. The second-phase is exclusively handled by external examiners. As regards the internal assessment, the students will have many opportunities to react with teachers, in case they find the internal assessment to be unfair. In addition there is provision for re-evaluation and re-totaling. From the year 1999-2000 the college has introduced double valuation even at B.Ed. level. For students of M.Ed. and M.Phil the assessment is made by both internal and external examiners. Efforts are made to make the assessment as transparent as it can be.
The college has 13 members on the staff. Of these 3 are Ph.D’s, 5 M.Phil’s and 5 have postgraduate qualifications. As the state government has instructed to admit 20% more students and introduced two media of instructions(English & Tamil) the workload of teachers has increased. In order to keep pace, the Management has appointed 4 teachers, 2 with M.Phil. and 2 with postgraduate qualification on temporary basis.
Teachers are recruited by a Board constituted by the Management having government and university representatives on it. Non-teaching staff are recruited by the Management. Members of the faculty have full freedom to organize their own classes and to design innovative schedules in teaching their classes. They also have freedom in guiding the research projects and publications. Members of the faculty are allowed to attend orientation & refresher courses for their professional development.
Although the college enjoys autonomy in all aspects of educational programmes, the theory papers are set by the external examiners and this goes against the principle of autonomy. Therefore it is suggested that the philosophy of semester system that is “A person who teaches the course must have the right to test the students” be followed.
Criterion III: Research, Consultancy and Extension
The research centre of the college is quite good and the quality of the research output is of high order. Research is carried out in broad areas of education. The research topics covered by Ph.D. research scholars and M.Phil. students mainly cover the area of teaching and classroom practices. To encourage research, the college has made research compulsory for M.Ed. students. At the end of the programme M.Ed. students have to submit a detailed report of their research in the form of thesis for adjudication. As for the Ph.D. programme 3 students have already been awarded degrees. At present there are no students for the doctoral programme because there are no certified guides. However, there are two qualified teachers who are awaiting their recognition for thesis supervision by the university. Once it is through, it will help many aspirants to take up research work. It is suggested that efforts to be made to get university approval for permitting the two eligible members of the staff to accept the research scholar for doctoral programme.
Many members of the staff are also actively engaged in research activities. Some of them have published their articles in national and international journals. Some departments like physical sciences, mathematics and English have developed innovative practices in teaching and these papers are presented in conferences and published by the college in order to disseminate the findings of these projects. The college also offers consultancy services through their extension programmes. The college is actually carrying out extension activities to meet the needs of the teachers working at various levels. One full-time member of the staff is kept in charge of extension services to plan and monitor various programmes, which are useful to teachers. The college has adopted a village at Pammal and helps the people of the village through various awareness programmes. Trainees are involved specially in the collection of various types of information about the village.
The college is endowed with rich infrastructure and excellent learning resources. The Management is contemplating its future development in terms of a master plan. During our discussion with the members of the Management it was disclosed that in addition to the present existing infrastructure i.e., buildings, laboratories, library, hostels, furniture, computers, audio-visual aids and several other modern equipment the college has also created a sizable amount of corpus fund for undertaking the future developmental activities. The college is situated in an area of 10 acres and surrounded by several sister institutions which play a complementary role in promoting pedagogical skills among teacher-pupils, for instance the model school and hostel buildings are built on the same campus and form almost an extension of the institutional infrastructure.
The college building consists of several spacious rooms(40) which are used as classroom, staff rooms, laboratories, a library and audio-visual room. Sufficient accommodation is allocated for non-teaching staff and the Principal.
There is a building committee which examines the needs and requirements of the institutional accommodation and looks after the maintenance of the building with the active involvement of the building committee the entire building is well maintained kept neat and clean. The college is surrounded by beautiful landscaping, an exclusive playground for students and a big auditorium for organising extraordinary and large scale professional and cultural programmes.
The college makes optimum use of infrastructure. The college works for 210 days and the library of the college is kept open from 0830 hrs to 1600 hrs on all working days. In addition to a large number of books and periodicals in the library the reprographic facilities, computers, audio and video cassettes are also provided by the college.
The college has a language laboratory, which is opened to all students either to refresh their skills or to acquire new skills. The college must offer full time courses during summer vacation with well laid entry criteria and the language advisory service.
Centrally provided internet and audio-visual aids form an integral part of the college infrastructure, to support teaching, research and learning.
Computer services are offered to only a selected few. The college proposes to introduce a short-term computer programme for promoting computer skills in all teacher pupils in the near future.
The college is unique in view of excellent residential hostel facilities from its inception. The activities of the college are extended to the hostel and in this sense hostel is also a centre of learning with compensatory educational opportunities.
Criterion V: Student Support and Progression
The college publishes its prospectus at the beginning of the academic year for the benefit of students seeking admission for various courses in the institution.
The prospectus contains all the relevant information like admission procedures, fees structure, the objectives of the courses offered, the curricular details, the infrastructure facilities available, and different forms of scholarships and financial aids.
The college organises an orientation course for the freshers to create an awareness about the institutional philosophy and its expectations of the student’s performance during their stay in the college. The college has created a career, guidance and counselling centre, which helps students in their progression.
It is note worthy that the college has been maintaining 100% results with several distinctions and rank holders to its credit in the university examinations. Since the institution is a single faculty centre for pursuit of teacher training programme the college has negligible role in their placement. Normally teachers are recruited in the schools as per the procedure of the state government based on the advertisements issued by different institutions from time to time. However the students are provided necessary guidance if they wish to pursue further education. In the case of M.Ed and research scholars the college organises certain enrichment programmes for the preparation of SLET and UGC-CSIR-NET examinations. The college also encourages some students to try out self employment. The Alumni Association of the college is active and has a long history. It is covered under Old Students Association(OSA) created by its founder Principal way back in 1926. Today it has more than 2000 students who are life members and they help current students on the campus.
Students are given admission according to the procedures and regulations laid down by the government. The extensive facilities are available in the institution and impressive infrastructure created over the years adds to the intellectual climate of the institution and academic performance of students. The college organises in addition to regular teaching programme, socio-cultural activities, induction courses and several welfare programmes.
The college is a recognised centre for research. Some students pursue research and some have already completed their Ph.D. programmes. The institution proposes to continue its programme on a permanent basis and it is exploring the possibilities of extending financial support to Ph.D. scholars. The institution may use the services of research scholars by allotting academic responsibilities and some teaching workload.
Criterion VI: Organisation and Management
The college is run by a Governing Body which consists of the President and 11other 5 as members of the board. The President is usually selected by members of the committee once in 2 years. The Board has Powers to:
· fix the fees and other charges payable by students of the college on the recommendation of the Finance Committee
· institute scholarships, fellowships, studentships, etc., on the recommendation of the Academic Council
· approve new programmes and performs such other functions and
· constitute committees, as and when necessary for proper development and to fulfil the objectives for which the college has been recognized as autonomous.
Beside these, there are 2 other bodies namely the Boards of Studies and the Academic Council. The Boards of Studies are responsible for revising the syllabi, preparing new syllabi and suggesting various new courses keeping in view the objectives of the college and national requirement. It also suggests methodology for innovative teaching and evaluation techniques. The Academic Council on other hand reviews and recommends to the Governing Body its consideration of the proposals made by the Boards of Studies.
The Principal of the college reviews the man power requirements and the justification for the new programmes and future demands. New vacancies that are created will have to be sanctioned by the government. Recruitment of staff will be made by the committee consisting of the Principal, the Vice-Principal, the member retiring, a university representative and a Management representative.
There is a college council headed by the Principal and it consists of all other members of the faculty. The college has various committees for the purpose of monitoring the working of all the 10 departments. The college has a committee to monitor the progress of construction, fund raising and expenditure committee for allocation of funds etc. All these committees regulate the work and the proper functioning of the college. The Management is generous enough to give soft loans to non-teaching staff. It is suggested, that the same may be extended to the teaching staff as a welfare measure.
The college has performance appraisal through an internal body. The expenditure of the college is audited by a professional auditor approved by the Management. The auditor gives suggestions to the office staff in maintaining the accounts as and when required. The Management mobilises funds and sanctions the required funds to the college through its corpus funds. The college has rich financial resources to carry out the ideals of those who built up the institution.
The college is a denominational, multipurpose institution managed by committed, religious missionaries. It has evolved into a leading institution in the field of education and built up several healthy practices, which form an integral part of college life. Some of these healthy practices are highlighted here under:
Ø Being an autonomous college, it has introduced the semester system with 40% weightage given to internal valuation. It has also introduced credit system with some flexibility for students to pursue their course work at their own pace. This innovation addresses problems of individual differences.
Ø The college offers under moral education two types of programmes (i.e)
1. moral Instruction, and 2. study of scriptures. Students opting for one of these under moral and spiritual education should participate in the programme twice a week which is obligatory.
Ø The college offers staff devotion programmes on every Monday morning. During this programme teachers present religious discourses on the Bible or Bagavat Geetha depending on their background. This programme helps in promoting secular democratic values and promoting a composite culture in the institution.
Ø Teachers participate in common worship programmes in the “chapel” for 15 minutes out of college hours everyday. This helps in self-discipline – discipline of mind and body among the faculty members who in turn influence students.
Ø The college strives to promote the spirit of social service among students. Many programmes have been undertaken on education of handicapped children offering remedial teaching once a week in different institutions and also in Homes for the Aged.
Ø The college has constituted an ‘Advisory Group’ where students discuss their personal welfare, problems and seek guidance from teachers. This helps students in sharing their emotional problems with the faculty. The Advisory Group indeed acts as a psychodynamic counselling centre addressing traumatic experiences of students for various reasons in certain cases.
Ø Regular tutorials are conducted in the institution with intimate interaction between the students and teachers. This helps in seeking clarifications from the teacher on professional and academic subjects.
Ø There is an ‘Alumni Association’ which helps in resource mobilisation. It is desirable for an institution to create a Parent Teacher Association for obvious advantages.
Ø There is an Eco-Club for creating environmental consciousness among students of the college. Under the guidance of the Eco-Club students participate in plantation and environmental related discussions through out the year.
Ø Assembly Programme operates with the help of 4 groups of teachers. Under this programme each group organises discussion on special themes, assisted by outside experts once a week. In all, such programmes are organised every year at the rate of one by each department and topics like Human Rights, Legal Rights of Women, Aids Awareness, etc., are selected for the discussion.
Ø Family Life Education – This Programme is organised twice a week for an hour.
Ø The college has instituted “House Parties” for organising recreation and entertainment programmes 4 times in a year.
Ø The college conducts an orientation programme for students in the beginning of the academic year for freshers, to initiate them into institutional life. This helps in social, academic and emotional adjustment problems of students.
Ø Profiles of students are maintained with the help of a case history of each student. This needs to be improved and computerised.
Genesis of St.Christopher’s College of Education can be traced back to early 19th century when it opened its doors to teacher pupils aspiring to work with young children in the region. The college over the years has developed into a leading teacher education women’s college with a distinct institutional set up and a unique socio-cultural ambiance. The infrastructure of the college includes spacious, and magnificent buildings with modern construction, well planned hostels, a centrally located library with more than 21,000 books and around 80 journals and periodicals.
Teaching in the institution is carried on with innovative techniques in the form of seminars, symposia, using audio-visual aids. Members of teaching staff are professional experts with extensive experience and established professional reputation in their areas of specialization.
The college offers a broad-based curriculum encompassing a diversity of pedagogical sciences. The curriculum is designed with the focus on foundation disciplines, methods of instruction and specialization in few selected areas. At present the college offers D.T.Ed., B.Ed., M.Ed., M.Phil. and Ph.D. programmes with multi-disciplinary approach.
The college has established its professional links with reputed institutions in and outside the country. It lays emphasis on all round development of the student’s personality with special concern for inculcation of moral and spiritual values. In this connection the college offers worship opportunities and organises retreat by spiritual leaders which helps the seekers of this spiritual knowledge as well as the religious oriented women students. The Peer Team after its visit to the college was impressed by the accomplishments and the past achievements as well as the present performance.
The following suggestions are made in order to help the institution in its reconstruction and future developments.
Ø Faculty development lies in training and continuous learning. At present there are more than 50% in faculty who possess Ph.D. or M.Phil. degree and the rest of the faculty have not improved their qualifications during their long academic career. We strongly recommend that to meet the challenges of several developments in higher education in contemporary times, every teacher must improve her qualification and keep abreast of several changes that are taking place in the area of pedagogy.
Ø In modern context teachers and the students in teacher education must learn for themselves more than what they learn from others. Learning to learn with an open ended learning system should be strengthened.
Ø Emphasis should be placed on creative integration of theory and practice. In this connection the faculty should organise seminars and symposia to prepare models of integration with the theory and practice covering certain topics and the knowledge of which can be extended to all other areas encompassing the entire pedagogical universe.
Ø Research in education should be largely a co-operative effort between the model school and the faculty of the college. This approach helps in sharing the practical experience of the classroom teacher and in turn in motivating the school classroom teacher to undertake operation research. The model school teachers therefore should be exposed to the learning culture of the college and their services may be utilised on part time basis for the college.
Ø Acquiring multiple skills is an important feature of a teacher training institution. A typical teacher in a college of education needs to acquire several skills in areas like counselling, guidance, placement procedures in addition to her own specialization. This would help teachers to extend their co-operation for the effective functioning of the institution. Teachers should perform multiple roles without confining to their few limited prescribed responsibilities.
Ø During the interaction with parents and alumni associations we were informed that there is an Old Student Association which was conceived by the founder Principal in the year 1926 and today it has registered more than 2000 life members. The college must activate the organisation and utilise their services in unfolding its potentiality.
Ø The Management should strive to introduce the principle of participating democracy in institutional organisation. The Peer Team also noted with appreciation the present Principal who works with a sense of dedication and commitment. A harmonious relationship between the faculty and the management shall go a long way in realising the goals of the institution for which it was created by the founder philosophers.
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