The Higher Education Review

In 1989, Chairman Dr. S. Cletus Babu with the mission to serve the socially deprived communities in Southern India first started SCAD School for the Gypsies, Pettai-Tirunelveli, with an untiring effort for the great cause of service. Now SCAD group has four Engineering colleges, two Polytechnic colleges, two College of Education and four reputed Schools, ITI's, Teacher Training Institute, Special school, Medical center, KVK (ICAR ­ Government of India Unit). FX Polytechnic College, one of the gems of SCAD Group of Institutions was established in 2006 located in the foothills of the Western Ghats, Tirunelveli-Tharuvai, Tamilnadu. The college placed its first milestone in the education industry with the vision to reach the underprivileged by offering Diploma courses in Civil Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electronics and Communication Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical and Electronics Engineering and Production Engineering. The College is affiliated to the Directorate of Technical Education, Guindy, Chennai, Tamilnadu and approved by AICTE, Delhi as an ISO 9001:2015 Certified Institution. It is being run and governed by St Xavier's Educational Trust. It envisaged attaining vision with a noble and holistic mission of empowering the students with industry-relevant technical skills.

To overcome the learning obstacles faced by the students of today's generation, the faculty of FX Polytechnic College has added some extra punch to the Academic Curriculum. Following AICTE's student-faculty ratio guidelines, FX Polytechnic College maintains a student-faculty ratio of 20:1. Dr. S. Cletus BabuDr. S. Cletus Babu, Founder Chairman, SCAD Group of Institutions, a well-known social entrepreneur, educationist and philanthropist who is also the mastermind behind this exceptional campus, says," The more you learn the more you earn. We give our students an opportunity to learn new technologies, behavioral traits which most importantly help them to adapt to the corporate world easily". Through his continued devotion and dedication, SCAD, today ranks amongst the top professional institutes of the country. The SCAD Group has consistently grown both in quality and numbers. Our faculties have good academic background with experience in research and development. The faculties are also engaged in massive Open Online Course; they attend regular Faculty Development Programs and all workshops conducted by IIT's and MIT's. They serve as technical mentors by facilitating technical skills to the students and for project guidance.

To make education affordable, FX Polytechnic College has introduced scholarship programs for the students. It offers Sports Scholarship (No Tuition fees) to students who have participated in State level competitions. Students who secure 90 percent and above in the Faculty Excellence Programs are also exempted from Tuition fees. Besides, FX Polytechnic College provides loans up to INR 50,000 which students can repay after earning degrees.

Delivering employable human resource is the key challenge the education Institutes are facing globally. For this we have designed tailor-made training programs to sharpen the students and polish their communicative skills and make them ready for the corporate world. The Institute has created a perfect rapport of Industries to achieve its 100 percent

placement. We have tied up with National Career Service so that the students can avail the benefits of this portal by registering themselves. This service offers confidential, helpful and impartial advice supported by qualified Career Advisors. The placement season for the Batch of 2019 was a resounding success, both in terms of the companies that visited campus, as well as the variety of profiles that were offered to the students. While there was continued participation from the past recruiters like Ashok Leyland, Larsen & Toubro Limited, Hitachi Solutions India Pvt Ltd, Ran India Steels Pvt Ltd, ZOHO Technologies Pvt Ltd, HCL Technologies Madurai and many other recruiters, visiting the campus again, there was a demand in the new recruiters spread across sectors.

"Following AICTE's student-faculty ratio guidelines, FX Polytechnic College maintains a student-faculty ratio of 20:1"

The Industry-Institute collab-oration paves a way to learn more about new technologies by providing internships for the students and also to support their placement. For this FX Polytechnic College has signed MoU's with renowned companies like ZOHO Technologies Pvt Ltd, Syrma Technology Pvt Ltd, HCL Technologies Madurai, Honeywell Technology Solutions Madurai, Jilaba Software Services Private Limited. "I am proud and privileged as I did my technical education in such an Institution which strives to make all the efforts put in by them in making us, Intellectual Individuals. All my batch mates are doing well in their respective jobs which reflect the quality of the students the institute has pro-duced", says K. Shenbaga Ramalingam (2010 Batch), Senior Analyst in Lycatel Pvt Ltd, Chennai.

FX Polytechnic College strives for preparing and placing students in multinational companies. We provide pre-placement training from the first year of their course of study. Dr. S. Cletus Babu says, "Our Entrepreneurship Development Programme aims to widen the base of Entrepreneurship Skills among the less privileged sections of the society. The skills that are required to run a business successfully are inculcated among our students through this Programme. If you visit our campus, you will find our students engrossed in a plethora of activities. We have started an Automobile Workshop, a Skill Consultancy Centre, Centre for testing Civil Consultancy, Centre for Engineering and Skill Development Centre, CNC Training Centre and Fabrication Shop inside the college campus. At present, 4 percent of our students are taking up entrepreneurship and it will be increased to 11 percent in the near future".

Muthuraman, CEO-Kasadara Tech & Automations (2018 Batch) says, "It would be difficult, to sum up, three years of FX in just few lines. I must say that the learning and exposure which FX gives is just commendable. The faculty is just amazing and they stand by you from the first day to the end of placement days. Apart from the curriculum, there are a lot of clubs for students. The best part of college is that they give you internships and placements in best reputed organizations. During the most crucial time of placements, the faculty and placement team provides students with lot of preparatory sessions so that they come up with their best. I feel FX is the wholesome basket for one who is looking to pursue technical education and I'll definitely cherish these moments forever".

"We follow not only the globally trusted teaching methodologies like blackboard and chalks but also the visual presentation that grab the attention of every student by providing a dynamic information sharing approach thus stepping into go green concepts. All classrooms are equipped with the standard array of presentation equipment. In spite of conducting regular

lectures we also organize momentous lectures by the faculties and Industry experts from reputed Institutions such as IIT's, MIT's and so on. We also conduct workshops and seminars to gain the domain knowledge of the students. The Institution sponsors the faculty to attain FDP's and publish papers in Journals," claims Prof. D.P.Rufus (Principal).

Students are also exposed to the real-life working environment and shown how things are done in an organization through regular Industrial visits. Few noteworthy places of visit were Thoothukudi Thermal Power Station, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited Tirunelveli, All India Radio Broadcasting Service centre in Tirunelveli, Dhrangadhra chemicals works Tuticorin, Sterlite Copper - Business Unit of Vedanta, Thoothukudi, Zoho Corporation in Tenkasi, Toon's Animation Pvt, Trivandrum Techno Park, ISRO Propulsion Complex Mahendragiri. Regular Internship Fairs are conducted to give our students an opportunity to meet experienced people from leading Organizations and be exposed to new ideas that broaden their Career horizons. They also took TOEFL examination and performed exceptionally well in it.

"Apart from curriculum our students also involved in various club activities," says K.Durai Shankar, Developer in ZOHO of (2013), FX Polytechnic College Rovers and Rangers Movement aims at contributing to the development of the young people by helping them achieve their full Physical, Intellectual, Social and Spiritual significance as individuals. We have a single unit of Rovers and a single unit of Rangers under the Bharat Scouts & Guides. The NSS unit of our college conducts Blood Donation Camps, Medical Camps and Eye Camps throughout the year benefitting both the students and the society. The NSS unit of our college adopted Araikulam village located in Tirunelveli district. Our students are actively involved in servicing the needy in that village.

"Academic Learning and Sports Education resemble the two sides of the same coin that complement each other. Our college gives at most importance to sports in order to develop team sprits and tolerance among the students. FX Polytechnic College has a well-maintained sports arena which includes a 400m Running track, Foot Ball court, Hockey ground, Basketball court, Volleyball court, Kabaddi ground, Throw ball, Hand Ball court. Our Hand Ball team won 3 times in the State level match and noteworthy student of our college Mr. Antony Godson has joined the Indian Nation Hand Ball team. The college is functioning in an eco-friendly environment with ample space available for classrooms, labs, library, conference hall, auditorium and faculty rooms for effective teaching and learning. It always strives to provide its students a cutting edge in education both at National and International levels, Earnest efforts are on to have tie-ups with more number of internationally renowned institutions, organizations and industries in the country to provide practical experience to the students," concludes Dr. S. Cletus Babu.

Dr. S. Cletus Babu
Dr. S. Cletus Babu, Founder Chairman, SCAD Group of Institutions, a well-known social entrepreneur, educationist and philanthropist who is also the mastermind behind this exceptional campus, says," The more you learn the more you earn. We give our students an opportunity to learn new technologies, behavioral traits which most importantly help them to adapt to the corporate world easily". Through his continued devotion and dedication, SCAD, today ranks amongst the top professional institutes of the country. The SCAD Group has consistently grown both in quality and numbers.