The Higher Education Review

The education sector has opened up over the last couple of years and students now have immense opportunities to learn more about different disciplines as they are not limited to learning about a single field. Now, students are also interested in expanding their knowledge and being more versatile, making them suitable for different industries and professions.

St. Ann`s Degree College for Women, Mallapur, is one pioneering educational institution that has been able to become a catalyst of positive change in the Indian higher educational realm. The institute operates with a vision to provide integral, value-based, and quality-oriented higher education that transforms and empowers young learners into competent personalities who are morally upright, emotionally balanced, and socially responsible.

Reaching for Greatness
St. Ann’s College is committed: To providing integral, value-based, and quality-oriented Higher Education to young Annites which leads to holistic growth and development; empowering young Annites, and moulding them into competent individuals who are committed to their personal and professional endeavors; ensuring commitment and pursuit of excellence in the Staff.

Espouse to become instruments of Providence and signs of Hope to the less privileged through its educative mission, fostering the integral and professional growth of young Annites; lay foundation of an education system that strives toward continuous innovation, initiation, modernization, and development, and Encourage young Annites to have the vision, courage, and dedication to become a catalyst for change.

Ever since its inception, St. Ann’s College has prioritized offering best-in-class education to the learners and adding more about

its degree programs, Sr. Emmy Gracy Vas, Principal, St. Ann’s College says, “We started with just B. Com General and B. Com Computer Applications program after which we introduced BCA program.

Later in 2003, due to insufficient space, we shifted from Tarnaka to the Mallapur campus. In the same year B.Sc. MSCs (Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science) and the P.G. Level MBA program were introduced. I took over as the Principal in 2013, and in the next year, a B.Sc. MECs (Mathematics, Electronics, and Computer Science) course was introduced. Then in 2020, we started BBA, and in 2021, an additional section for B. Com computer Applications was introduced. Two more new courses- B.Com Business Analytics and B.Sc Data Science were introduced during last year”.

St. Ann’s College aspires to make world-class education more accessible to students from all walks of life and most of its students come from economically backward situations or middle-income families. From the moment they join the institute, it trains them to ensure their holistic development so that they can achieve sustained success. The Annite culture through its motto ‘Pursue Truth’, teaches students to practice honesty in academics as well as in everyday life. At St. Ann’s, students have the opportunity to participate in various co-curricular and extracurricular activities through different active clubs, that help to foster comradery and innovation among the students.

Participative, experiential, and problem-solving learning, prepares them to meet the challenges of the competitive world. The College empowers students through the ‘Pedagogy of the Heart’ by reaching out to understand their needs and unlocking their growth potential. All this helps the institute to create an enriching and sustaining environment for the students to hone their skills. The College imparts skills and knowledge that will help them to join the workforce or start a business of their own. St. Ann’s College also trains the students to be socially responsible individuals who can have a positive impact on society.

SPARK (Sharing Past and Recent Knowledge) sessions conducted by the College help the students develop their leadership, teamwork, communication, and leadership skills. Aside from this, the regular mentoring sessions enable students to interact with faculty members, discuss their vicissitudes, and improve themselves.

This acts as a platform that helps the students to get more guidance and realize their true potential. The college has initiated a radio station, STARS (St. Ann’s Radio Station) that provides much-needed relaxation for the students and adds to the overall ambiance of the campus.

Staying Ahead of the Curve
Over the years, the rapid penetration of technology has had a significant positive impact on the higher education realm, and when asked about how St. Ann’s College leverages technology to improve the quality of education, Sr. Emmy Gracy Vas states, “Technology adoption and incorporation in our teaching has increased significantly during and after the pandemic.

The LMS facility assists the online teaching-learning process and enables the assessment of exams and assignments through Google Classrooms. Aside from this, our faculty members use different technologies for innovative and creative teaching pedagogies.

The incorporation of technology into our infrastructure has made teaching-learning more seamless and it is used to conduct webinars, seminars, conferences, and guest lectures as well”.

Evolving with the changing times, St. Ann’s College will be relocating to a new block and the existing one will be used for a school. This movement aims to impart education from K.G. to P.G. on the same campus and nurture passionate learners who can have a positive impact on society.

Along with this, the College is also planning on introducing more integrated courses and exploring new opportunities to improve the quality of its education.