The Higher Education Review

Despite being a nation with full of competent youngsters, India's record in the Olympics has not been spectacular. The lack of institutions that can identify and develop the sporting talents is one of the major reasons behind the country's poor performance on global athletic championships. Interestingly, Shri Shankarlal Sundarbai Shasun Jain College for Women located in Chennai is striving hard to change India's fortune in the 2020 Olympics. With a motive of bagging medals in the upcoming Olympics, which is proposed to happen in Tokyo, Japan, the institute has launched 'The Mission Archery - 2020' where they train their students to compete against the international sporting stars. Indeed, the results are already there with the girls of Shasun Jain College bagging 10th Tamil Nadu State Archery Championship as well as Pondicherry Chief Minister's Trophy.

Taking up such missions of national eminence, Shasun Jain College - a front-runner in women's education - has always proved to be a forward-looking institution. "Our focus is to ensure that the traditional system of education is modernized with the value-based approach. The courses offered here are aligned accordingly so that our students can stand out from the crowd once they go out from the college," says Dr. B. Poorna, Principal, Shasun Jain College.

Established in 2004, Shasun Jain College is supported by Sri Swetambar Stanakwasi Jain Educational Society that has been rendering yeomen service to the community by nurturing learning experience and enabling students to realize their inherent potential. In the eight decades of presence since its inception in 1934, the society has established several premier educational institutions and moulded the

young generation into competent, self-reliant and socially responsible citizens

Shasun's Media Marvels
Accredited with 'A' grade by the National Accreditation and Assessment Council (NAAC), Shasun Jain College in affiliation with Madras University, offers BSc Visual Communication and MA Journalism and Mass Communication to create smart ethical media professionals who would revolutionize and redefine Journalism today. The School of Media and Communication at Shasun Jain College facilitates students with TV studio, edit suit with inbuilt Mac systems, well-furnished computer labs, Photography studios with advanced DSLRs, audio recording studio, and VR tool Kit. The school has an online youtube channel, Shasun Media and monthly news bulletin, 'Shasun Samachar', radio initiative, Shasun Radio, managed by the students as part of their training.

"When it comes to the delivery of latest knowledge, Shasun Jain College never goes for any compromises."

"At Shasun, we have developed an industry-oriented curriculum with a focus on practical inputs rather than theoretical knowledge. We focus on Media education which covers journalism (print, radio, television and new media), film studies, public relations, advertising, and media law," explains Dr. B. Poorna. With an intake of 50 students for B.Sc Visual Communication and 20 for M.A (J&C), the school focuses on every individual student according to their understanding and level of perception. Therefore, the education goes beyond the classrooms at Shasun, emphasising on providing the practical skills.

In addition to the prescribed university syllabus, Shasun Jain College offers 18 value-added courses and 12 certificate courses through Shasun Knowledge Advocacy Lead Program to augment the practical skills of the learners. It gives students opportunities to work on real time projects like video making, digital content making under the guidance of experts.

The institute has also managed to do informal tie-ups with graphic companies like 2Ad Pro and BoT VFX, design institutions like INFD and FIDA, Madras Advertising club and many more. "We have signed MoU with University of Missouri, Columbia (UoMC). Now, the faculty members of the UoMC are visiting our campus as guest lecturers, which in turn will help us to produce graduates who are capable of working in the global media and entertainment industry," adds Dr. B. Poorna.

The Making of Leaders
When it comes to the delivery of latest knowledge, Shasun Jain College never goes for any compromises. The institute's faculty members are experienced professionals from the media industry. Dr. B. Poorna claims, "Since, most of the faculty members are closely associated with media organizations, we are able to organize numerous seminars and workshops for students. This has been helping us in procuring jobs for the students in some of the leading media houses in the country."

As an institute that is in perpetual motion with all kinds of activities, Shasun Jain College has always been a favourite hunting ground in down south for recruiters across the country. The institute has accomplished cent percent success in placements through their meaningful tie-ups with different industry bodies. "We have collaborated with leading media houses like Vikatan Group, StoneBench creators and many more to train our students to work under pressure, so that they will become fine leaders of media tomorrow," pinpoints Dr. B. Poorna.

Now, Shasun Jain College has earned the status of being one of the most preferred destinations in south India for media studies. With this success, the college ensures that their students will be able to be trained in overseas institutions through the management's fellowship program, which they have planned for the upcoming years.