Promising Stars Among Arts and Science Colleges of Tamil Nadu-2
This is the second article in the series of six articles. In this article, an attempt is made to discuss the salient features of some unique courses of two leading colleges in Pollachi and another college in Salem, in some detail.
Introduction
In the first article of this series of the most promising Arts and Science College of Tamil Nadu,Promising Stars Among Arts and Science Colleges of Tamil Nadu -1, we had discussed the unique features of three Coimbatore-city based colleges. In this second article, we will discuss the courses offered by two leading colleges at Pollachi and one college at Salem. The two Pollachi colleges are Sree Saraswathi Thiagaraja College, Pollachi, which is a highly reputed college of Pollachi and another reputed college that is part of the Sakthi Group of Pollachi. This college is the Nallamuthu Gounder Mahalingam College. The third college is the AVC College of Arts and Science, Salem.
In particular, our focus will be on a) What is special about Pollachi and Salem b) What is special about Sree Saraswathi Thiagaraja College Pollachi c) What is special about Nallamuthu Gounder Mahalingam College, Pollachi and c) What is special about AVC College of Arts and Science, Salem. What is special about Pollachi and Salem
Some twenty-five years ago, there was this famous advertisement featuring the Hindi actor Amir Khan. He would act like a villager and when four city girls would chide him if he could get them a good cool drink, he would draw a bucket of Cocacola bottles, from a deep well in the village. And he would proudly say "thanda matlab CocaCola". The multinational company went on to make maximum money. Everyone in the country was curious to know where that lovely village was situated. The answer: Pollachi.
Pollachi's claim to fame is that it is right on the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border. One can only find acres and acres of the richest farms all around. The farmers are highly powerful and the coconut trade of this lovely town, that is just one hour from Coimbatore city, runs into millions of rupees. However, Pollachi still fanatically maintains its rural character. Its rich agriculture and the natural environs have made it the main destination of most Hindi, Telugu and Tamil movies. One can always find the hero romancing his ladylove around the coconut trees and all of this is invariably shot at Pollachi. It has another claim to fame. Pollachi is quite near Munnar, and the road that leads to Munnar starts from Pollachi. Hundreds of thousands of tourists flock to Pollachi and Munnar every year.
Salem, on the other hand, is rich in agriculture and has a few industries as well. However, it has a semi-urban face and does not have the natural beauty of Pollachi. Yet, it is a booming town, with fabulous connectivity by train to Bangalore and the rest of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. It is a big educational hub with so many engineering colleges. It is close to Namakkal, the largest producer of eggs in India. What is special about Sree Saraswathi Thiagaraja College Pollachi
This is easily the best college of choice for thousands from neighbouring Kerala and the entire region that extends up to Dindigul and beyond. This autonomous college of the Bharathiyar University, Coimbatore, has too many courses under its umbrella and is really very good in terms of quality. Those interviewed were of the uniform opinion that the intent of the Management is to continuously strive to make the college a very unique one in terms of doing whatever it takes to build, systematically, a branded institution in a distinctly rural environment.
This college offers, for example, the B.Sc(Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning0 course that is totally a one-of-its-kind in the entire Coimbatore region. The B.Sc(Digital&Cyber Forensic Science) course is also another unique course. The MSW and the MBA courses are also famous. It is perhaps the only college that publishes a journal on Management, called "Management Wisdom". Every attempt is made to make the students ready to face the challenges of the industry and hence various personality development courses are conducted at any point in time. Of late, the college is serious about MOUs with various Coimbatore-based industrial organizations and associations to provide the best practical training to the students of various courses.
The Sree Sawaraswathi Thiagaraja College Pollachi has a huge number of teachers with the doctorate degree and the M.Phil and doctorate programs, available both full time and part-time, in English, Management, Tamil and Computer Science, for example, is quoted as one sign of the excellent quality of education by those interviewed for this article. Once again, the same reason is cited for the various conventional courses on offer -- the parents in the rural environment of Pollachi want their children to be graduates and hence any degree is fine. The students go back to do the farming as well and the joint-family system is still very much in existence in most pockets of Pollachi and its surroundings.
Contact Information:-
Address:-
Sree Saraswathi Thiagaraja College
Pollachi Road
Thippampatti
Pollachi 642007.
Phone numbers:- 73760550, 9943266008,9095166009
Email:-stc@stc.ac.in
Website:- www.stc.ac.inWhat is special about Nallamuthu Gounder Mahalingam College Pollachi
This is another famous college that belongs to the Sakthi group of industries, Coimbatore. The leading company is Sakthi Sugars and the Non-banking financial company is called Sakthi Finance.
The Nallamuthu Gounder Mahalingam College Pollachi college offers all the conventional courses. However, the locals are proud of courses like the B.Com(Business Process Services) and B.Com(International Business) offered by this college. The B.Com(Professional Accounting) course that is offered by this college, is also quite famous. This autonomous college of the Bharathiyar University, Coimbatore, reportedly has a good number of students who travel from Palghat, which is hardly an hour from Pollachi. It is also reported as a "college of choice" for not only Pollachi residents but for those from the neighbouring Dindigul district as well, for the various conventional courses. It is said that those who study here, complete their post-graduation and go on to do their doctorate degree as well, as the college also has the facility to do the full-time and part-time M.Phil courses and the doctorate courses in Tamil, English, Mathematics, Physics, Zoology, History, Economics, Commerce, Computer Science, Social Work and Chemistry.
Among the various PG courses, the one that is reportedly most sought after, is the Master's Degree in Social Work, with a specialization in Human Resource Management, Community Development and the Medical and Psychiatric Social Work. It is clear that this college wants to focus on conventional courses and maintain the very high standards of teaching. This is exactly what gives it a unique edge.
Contact Information:-
Address:-
Nallamuthu Gounder Mahalingam College
90 Palghat Road
Pollachi 642 001
Phone:- 04259-;234868, 234870
Email:- ngm@ngmc.org
Wesbite:-www.ngmc.org What is special about AVC College of Arts and Science Salem
This is another college that follows the policy of sticking to the traditional courses and adding value through good inputs. There are several MOUs to increase the industry preparedness of its students.
The placement cell that has been quite active has been able to get some job or the other for all the eligible students and the campus interviews are increasing every year. The locals are of the opinion that the Management of the trust that runs several organizations including this college have a serious intent to serve the needs of first-generation learners. These students from the numerous villages near Salem are keen on the conventional courses.
Yet, the AVS College of Arts and Science Salem does have some innovative courses. It offers, for example, the B.Sc(Geology) course. It also offers the B.Sc(Visual Communication) course and the BBA(CA) course. The M.Sc(Microbiology) is also on offer. The college also offers a doctorate degree in Commerce and Chemistry.
The students and parents seem to be happy about the placement services of the college. Some students also get placed at Salem itself and this is a big plus in the favour of local students. Hence, whatever be the complexities of the external environment, if the graduate gets to stay in the same native village and commute to the local workplace at Salem, the economic needs of the family is taken care of. Colleges like this college eminently position themselves to get this done on a regular basis. This becomes particularly relevant in the localized environment where the transition from the Tamil medium to the English medium presents a big challenge to the students and teachers alike.
Contact Information:-
Address:-
AVC College of Arts and Science
Attur Main Road
Ramalingapuram
Salem 632 106
Phone:- 0427-2912495, 2912215
Email:- principal@avccollege.ac.in
Website:- avscollege.ac.inConclusion
The two colleges of Pollachi that are totally autonomous colleges and the college at Salem are doing their best in the given set of circumstances. The placement opportunities are increasing day after day. This is a positive common feature of all the three colleges.