The Higher Education Review

Education at doorsteps and pursuing it staying in their own hometown is still a distant dream for several young and bright minds of the country. Whereas boys by default opt for settling to another city or bigger town for achieving their educational goals, girls are bound to stay back at home owing to the parents' concern attached to the safety issues. Considering all such drawbacks, which were not letting a dedicated workforce of Rahuri Tehsil of Ahmednagar district in the Maharashtra state to prosper and shine, Shri Shivaji Shikshan Prasarak Mandal's Arts, Science & Commerce College was founded in the year 1978 under the leadership of President Dr. Baburao Bapuji Tanpure and the guidance of Shri. Prasad Baburao Tanpure (former MLA and MP).

Accredited A Grade by NAAC and affiliated to Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), the college till date has the record of producing around 31 University toppers along with earning recognition and awards such as Best College Award ,Best Award In Sport & Best College Award For Student Welfare Activities by SPPU and State Govts Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj –Vanashree Puraskar 2015. "Talking about the history or success of Shri Shivaji Shikshan Prasarak Mandal would remain incomplete without reference to the efforts and achievements of Dr. Baburao Bapuji Tanpure who strived during his entire life to bring about socio-economic and educational development of Rahuri," pinpoints Dr. Sambhaji A Pathare, Principal, Shri Shivaji Shikshan Prasarak Mandal's Arts, Science & Commerce College. Pledging to provide all-round development to each of the students of the area, the college offers courses classified into three faculties viz. arts, science, and commerce.

Dr. Pathare proudly says, "In 2012, we added 11 new and in-demand programmes.

Now the education scenario of the region is much better, where no girl student has to remain deprived of quality and higher education and can access to a wholesome education that too with ample financial assistance in the form of varied scholarships." Over the years, the college has initiated numerous unique activities, one of which is the "earn and learn scheme", where the students are compulsorily asked to participate in different works of the college for minimum 2-3 hours a day whether it is in the library or maintaining the campus. "If students aspire to earn more, they are allowed to even work on holidays. This earned money can be later used for their educational purpose," adds Dr. Pathare. However, as these activities and learning goes hands-in-hands in the college, students also get the opportunity to undergo skill-based exclusive certificate courses conducted by the college.

"Covered in a blanket of greenery, the campus of the college encompasses finest facilities and infrastructure including a spacious indoor sports stadium, robust security facility, speedy internet connectivity and so on"

Unmatched Efforts
Covered in a blanket of greenery, the campus of the college encompasses finest facilities and infrastructure including a spacious indoor sports stadium, robust security facility, speedy internet connectivity and so on. "The campus is also decorated with an incredible cactus garden with 350 plus medicinal species of cacti. The college gains decent funds by selling these saplings," says Dr. Pathare. Since the day Dr. Pathare joined the college as Principal, he has been positively contributing to the fulfillment of the set goals, through starting many initiatives such as Mazi Aai Mazya Mahavidyalayat (My mother in my college) that enables the mothers of the girl students' to visit their daughters college and participate in recreational activities that are specially organized for them. Other initiatives like College Exam Officer, Guruvarcha Khau, Cactus Garden, Green Audit: A Self Appraisal, Online QPD System to SPPU and so on.

"With the help of the offered certificate courses and regular hands-on-training, our students are ensured to receive a productive career direction after completing their education. Apart from

certificate courses in areas such as Journalism, photography, banking and many more, the course in Modi script, helps them greatly in obtaining jobs in government firms," claims Dr. Pathare. The highly qualified and experienced faculty members of the college take explicit care to deliver education using the latest teaching methodologies and technology, rather confining only to the chalk and board. Taking a step forward to keep on intensifying the quality of education, the college has extended tie-up with Dr. Baburao Bapuji Tanpure Sugar and Fermentation Industry, Shrishivajinagar and is in advanced phase of signing a MoU with Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidhyapeeth for admission of students to some of the ad- on courses that will be conducted by MPKV.

Balancing with academics, the college also emphasizes on motivating the students to engage in co-curricular activities. "Organizing zonal level research competition Avishkar and Inspire, Fearless girls campaign, Personality Development, Disaster Management, Career guidance, to name a few, make our students' educational life more fulfilling," opines Dr. Pathare. To give a strong shape to the professional base of the students', the committed Placement cell of the college has tied-up with a group in Pune, that regularly renders updates on the available jobs and required skills, which are kept transparent to the students via the electronic display board placed in the campus. "We have achieved cent percent placement rate in placing our BSc and MSc students in top-notch companies like Lupin Pharmaceuticals, Sun Pharmaceuticals, Cipla, Dr. Reddy's Lab and many more. In near future we are planning to introduce more skill-based courses for which RUSA has already granted a sum of two crores to the college," concludes Dr. Pathare.

Dr. Sambhaji A Pathare, Principal
Holding M.Sc, M.Phil and Ph.D. degrees, Dr. Pathare boasts of extensive 35 years of working experience. For the demonstrated dedication towards his work, Dr. Pathare during his career span has earned awards such as State Teacher Award-Govt. of Maharashtra, Lokmanya Gaurav Puraskar, Acharya Devendra Gaurav Sanman and so on. He has completed 22 International and 8 National Publications till date.