For women, with vision

THERE SHE stood. Covered in purdah. Determination, not money was her strength. So resolute was she to see her teenaged daughter excel in academics and vocational training. So that she could sail through the cross-currents of life with ease and be independent.

Like for the woman in purdah who didn't have money to buy even the application form, the S. C. S. Kothari Academy for Women, Chennai, has been the source of succour to many. Wholesome education for women is what its businessman-founder B. K. Kothari, guided by his litterateur friend S. R. Govindarajan, had envisaged.

Inaugurated in 1980, the service-oriented organisation "strives to impart education and vocational training of a high order through a host of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and skill-oriented courses for those leaving school, graduates and housewives."

Situated in a quiet locality, the Academy, which boasts of a hostel as well, is a recognised study centre of the Indira Gandhi National Open University. This enables the students enrolling for any of the courses in the Academy to simultaneously pursue regular education through IGNOU.

Take a trip round the cool campus, and you would notice the gleeful expression of the girls reflects their life in the Academy. "Oh... We enjoy studying here. It's homely and not intimidating. What is more? The options are plenty. We are given the opportunity to pursue many courses - all career-oriented at that," they say in unison.

And yes... From Management to childhood education, from fashion designing to visual arts, the Academy offers them all. "The demand is on the rise for job-oriented courses. So Management, secretaryship, computer, fashion designing and interior decoration are much sought after," says a faculty member.

Management education of a high standard is imparted through the two-year post-graduate diploma course in Business Management.

"The syllabus here is tougher and more advanced. And the course which promises quick placement is open to graduates from any discipline." The Academy is famous for its PG diploma in Executive Secretaryship and UG diploma in personal secretaryship. Students who pass out are instantly absorbed. The Computer and Informatics Department offers a host of programmes for beginners and also at the advanced level.

The one-year PG diploma in early childhood management equips women to organise play schools in housing colonies, run creches and teach at the K. G. level. A play school in the Academy premises enables the students to gain first-hand practical experience too.

Home management, interior decoration, health and hygiene, nutrition and dietetics, Biochemistry, Micro-biology, Physiology, child care and Financial control are some of the areas covered under the PG diploma in Home Science and Nutrition. The course finds good openings in the hospital sector. The one-year diploma on fashion designing, which offers immense scope for self- employment, covers sketching, illustration, pattern making, drafting, cutting and sewing of children's, women's and men's wear. Short term cookery courses, household arts, fabric painting, embroidery, cosmetology, spoken English and yoga are some of the other attractions.

The Academy which has a placement and counselling service, also offers plenty of bursaries and scholarships for the socially and economically under-privileged, according to its director, Prof. N. Krishnaswami.

Twenty years have rolled by. And the Academy is doing its best to keep abreast of the sweeping changes. The curriculum is periodically renewed to gear up students to face the challenges in their chosen discipline. As a beaming Doleren Etta of the Fashion Designing department says, "The syllabus here is far superior to what is offered elsewhere. It prepares us for a career, fast forward."

T. KRITHIKA REDDY

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Features
Previous : Relax. Tai Chi is here
Next     : Horse power!