The Higher Education Review

As per the words of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the condition of a nation can be assessed by looking at the status of its women. However, we had a time when women were not even allowed to move out of their house. From there, the women in India have reached a stage where they actively participate in social, economic and political activities; it is not just with the wheel of time, but because of the continuous efforts of many people. Late Shri Nanalal Bhatt, founder of Shrimathi Devkunvar Nanalal Bhatt Vaishnav College
for Women, was one such person who wanted to bring up the status of women by giving them quality education. This true aspiration made him start a College in the name of his wife Shrimathi Devkunvar. Today, the 48-year-old College,
located in Kanchipuram District, Tamil Nadu, caters to the need of large number of first generation learners coming
from vernacular medium.

“Started with six lakhs donated by Cork Industries Charities Trust in 10 acres of land donated by our LateFounder Chairman Shri Nanalal Bhatt, we are the first
women’s Aided College in Kanchipuram District in TamilNadu and we proudly work to fulfill the vision of our founder,” says Dr. V. Varalakshmi, Principal of Shrimathi Devkunvar Nanalal Bhatt Vaishnav College for Women.As per the Late Founder Chairman Shri Nanalal Bhatt,education is something, which needs to reach up all the
sections of the society and his idea is taken forward bythe institute till now. Currently, the institute is headed
by Smt.Mamta D Bhatt and with the support of qualified and experienced academicians, the institute promotes self-confidence among students instilling leadership and
employability skills. These ideas of productive education inspire them to ensure the quality of the curriculum.

“Curriculum is revised as per the industry needs regularly and we have good industry academia relationship,” says Dr.V.Varalakshmi. Excellent and dedicated faculty members very well teach the industry-updated curriculum developed
by SDNBVC to the students.
Dr.V. Varalakshmi is very proud about her team of faculty members and she considers them as the strong Dr. V. Varalakshmi is the principal of Shrimathi Devkunvar
Nanalal Bhatt Vaishnav College for Women. She says, “We work to keep our students abreast with the latest developments in the field through active research along with teaching and motivation to help the young minds to excel academically and pursue higher education. Keeping the vision of the late founder Shri Nanalal Bhatt the team strives for the upliftment of women through education.

pillars holding the institution high. “More than 50 to 60 of the faculty members are PhD holders and they are specialized in their own fields. Each and every member here is well equipped with the required skill to make students employable,” claims Dr.V.Varalakshmi. SDNBVC’s faculty members who act as mentors use all the effective techniques in their teaching process. The hands-on training and the practical exposure for individual student is the basic practice followed by SDNBVC. “We give them regular tests and we have a special approach wherein every teacher is assigned with 20 students and teachers have constant discussion with them to find out the difficulties in them. We try to improve the abilities through special coaching with continuous efforts to make a holistic development,” says Dr.V.Varalakshmi. As modern world is filled with competitiveness, SDNBVC motivates girls to pursue their higher studies. It is not an institution just creating employable students, rather it is the place aspiring women to reach heights.

The right vision of the Management attracts many recruiters towards SDNBVC. The institute also takes good care in training its students for placement. The Training and Placement Cell assisted by Student Placement Coordinators play a predominant role in SDNBVC organizing campus interviews to facilitate suitable job opportunity for the final year students after their graduation.

The cell disseminates information pertaining to the availability of jobs to the prospective candidates and it has benefited thousands of students to be well posted in various reputed organizations.

SDNBVC also conducts various training programs by invited HRs, corporate bigwigs and so on to aid the students for their future pursuits. Other than the placement training, the guest lectures, workshops and seminars to provide soft skills and personality development programs gives students an excellent exposure to face the competitive world.

With allthese features, the College has also carved a niche in women’s education
by upgrading its status as a Research
Institute in 2012 with departments in
History and Tourism, Statistics, Physics,
Plant Biology and Plant Biotechnology,
Computer Science, and Commerce, offering Ph.D. program. The College is equipped with six research departments offering full-time and part-time Ph.D. programs and three departments offering part-time Ph.D. programs. SDNBVC is the only College in
Chennai and Kanchipuram District to be recognized as a study center by the Institute of Cost Accountants of India and Institute of Company Secretaries of India(ICSI) to conduct classes for Foundation and Intermediate Examination and it will be accredited shortly by Institute of Charted Accountants of India(ICAI) also.Even though the College startedwith 300 girls with only PUC, now it caters to as many as 5184 girls, offering arts, science and commerce in aided andunaided streams. Currently with a plan to expand their wings, SDNBVC is also
trying to achieve the title as College for
Potential Excellence.