The Higher Education Review

“Prajwalito Jnanamaya Pradeepaha” – Speaks the logo of Vidya Prasarak Mandal Thane. This parent body of VPM’s K G Joshi College of Arts and N G Bedekar College of Commerce (Autonomous) was founded in 1935, and it now runs multiple educational institutes which educate more than fifteen thousand students. The Thane Campus of Vidya Prasarak Mandal also hosts VPM’s Bandodkar College of Science (Autonomous), VPM’s Polytechnic, VPM’s TMC Law College and Dr. V N Bedekar Institute of Management Studies.

K.G. Joshi College of Arts & N.G. Bedekar College of Commerce (Autonomous) is the first learning of higher education in Thane. All these institutions work towards excellence under the able leadership of Chairman Dr. Vijay Bedekar.

K.G. Joshi College of Arts & N.G. Bedekar College of Commerce (Autonomous) is one of pioneering educational institution that offers student-centric education which prepares the learners for the industry. The institute operates with a mission to nurture and foster an innovative academic environment for critical thinking, all-round growth and holistic development of students and staff to make them responsible and sensible citizens of the society.

The college offers a plethora of options to its students to pursue undergraduate and post graduate programmes along with pursuing many Value Added/Certificate Courses for upskilling. The Institute has both aided and unaided sections comprising of courses offering specialization in Commerce, Accountancy, Banking and Insurance, Management, as well subjects in Arts like English, Economics, Mass Media, Political Science, Geography, Hindi, Psychology and others.

Adding more about the institute and the unique learning opportunities it provides, Dr. Suchitra A. Naik, who is the Principal of the institute says, “We are an autonomous institution and we have been making changes in our curriculum to align with the needs of the society. To give more to our students, we have plethora of bridge courses and value addition courses.

When we are offering value addition courses, we usually have tie ups with industry or institutions which helps our students to be better prepared for the industry. Our students also do field visits, which helps them to acquire valuable real-life experience. We also have an active placement cell and we have professionals coming to the institute to screen our students, and offer them extensive training”.

Dedicated Faculty & Up-to-date Infrastructure to Nurture Inspired Learners
The institute thrives on the strength of its faculty members. The college has qualified and trained faculties who always make it a point to upskill themselves to meet the current standards and changes in the education system.

The institute also nurtures a research culture with the able support of the management and a number of successful minor research projects have been submitted by the faculty members. Faculty members of the institute are also working on different programs to make its education more accessible for differently abled students and create more inclusive classrooms.

Student Centric Approach
Students are important stakeholders of the institute. Hence, all possible efforts have been taken to provide appropriate infrastructure conducive to creating a holistic atmosphere for the all-round development of the students. Apart from modern classrooms and ICT-enabled labs, the institute also features an amazing library with a large database, a modern gymnasium, and a turf, to name a few.

VPM Campus is made up of students who are passionate about turning their specific interests and skills into a career in sports. In this regard, the management has established VPM's Sports Academy to assist sports education and athletic excellence in order to promote physical fitness and sportsmanship among all kids. The college has also established the Atulya Cell exclusive for the upliftment and motivation of specially-abled students.

Updated-Industry Oriented Curriculum & Teaching
To offer better industry-centric higher education, the institute is aiming to develop more internship embedded programs and integrate value-added courses to its main credit system so that students will give more emphasis to these courses. Catering to the societal orientation of the students, the college engages in a variety of educational endeavors,

projects, and efforts to help students cope with high academic pressure and expectations. Similarly, through NSS, NCC, DLLE, and other academies, the institution is actively engaged in outreach and social initiatives in its adopted village of 'Taki Pathar'.

It is also regularly updating the programmes with the assistance of its in-house software development team in order to consistently increase educational quality.

K.G. Joshi College of Arts & N.G. Bedekar College of Commerce (Autonomous) aspires to make world class higher education accessible for students from all walks of life. Adding more about the scholarship opportunities offered at the institute, Dr.

Suchitra A. Naik says “We have government scholarships as well as scholarships offered by plethora of NGOs. Apart from this, recently, our alumni association Surge raised funds which can be used to provide scholarships for meritorious students”.

"The college has qualified & trained faculties who always make it a point to upskill themselves to meet the current standards & changes in the education system"

Holistic & Socially Responsible Learning
The institute aims to create an emotion friendly campus for all the stakeholders and has hence started with Pradnya Parisar, an initiative to give event to experience to all. The college is also at the forefront to carry out initiatives not just of University of Mumbai but also of various national and international bodies.

The institute is the lead college for the conduct of University examinations. The college has also successfully conducted the vaccination drive initiated by Thane Municipality Cooperation. It has also led effectively the Voters Drive Awareness presided by the Joint Director, Higher Education, Panvel Division across 36 Districts. Currently, the institute is spearheading the UNICEF Mumbai and Higher and Technical Education Department (HTED) initiative of training youth for Climate Change and Water Conservation.

Dr. Suchitra A. Naik, Principal, K.G. Joshi College of Arts & N.G. Bedekar College of Commerce (Autonomous)
This pioneering educator aspires to offer the best-in-class education to the students so that they can develop into inspired learners who can have a positive impact on society.