Al-Ameen Movement was born in 1966 with inception of Al-Ameen Educational Society in the midst of illiterate masses of the society in Bangalore, especially among the members of the Muslim community. During that time, India was struggling with financial restrains to implement literacy programmes. Al-Ameen Movement, initiated by Dr Mumtaz Ahmed Khan, started the process of educating children of have-nots and specifically the children of poverty ridden sections of the society and those who failed to get seats in reputed institutions because of non-affordability of finances to educate their children. Today, Al-Ameen has mushroomed not just in the state but the entire country with almost about 60,000 students under its umbrella. The Al-Ameen Pre-University College is one among the plethora of colleges under the society which was started in 1968. Dr B M Zakir, Principal of the college speaks to Vyas Sivanand about its focus areas and unique features.
■ What is the main focus of Al-Ameen PU college?
The pre-university college started two years after the Al-Ameen Educational Society was formed. From 30 students then, today the college has more than 1,400 students. The focus is on intake of below-average students and then produce excellent results at affordable rates. Under the society, if a student joins nursery, he can go up to post-graduation or research level as we have all the branches.
At the college, efforts are made to provide quality education and create a value-oriented climate in the classrooms and the campus to these aspiring students. The alumni of the college have donned cadres in IAS, KAS, medicine, engineering and a variety of managerial posts all over India and in several foreign countries. Our mission at Al-Ameen PU College is to provide a positive learning environment which recognises the individual differences and diverse learning styles of every student.
Another aspect to the success of the college is that we have total cooperation from our chairman and the management. The chairman is usually involved in disciplining students at the campus. The vice-principal, Nawab Pasha along with the faculty members have been spearheading the success of the pre-university college.
■ Can you mention few unique initiatives taken up by the college?
As a first-of-its-kind implementation in the state, we have introduced the tablet systems, using which the faculty members mark the attendance. The information of those who are absent is immediately sent to the parents via SMS. At the end of the day, I get the entire report. We also have a graphical performance system through which parents can login to our website using a username and password, which is given to them, and check the performance of their child.
■ Are you planning to introduce any new courses in the coming year?
Every year, we have plans to introduce some new concepts for the benefit of the students. Next year, we will be focussing on training students in medical sciences. With more and more engineering colleges cropping up in every nook and cranny, many students are joining the stream ultimately ending up with no job. We will be selecting a few students and provide them extra coaching in the medical science stream.
We are also providing free CET coaching for all students. Students from other colleges are also welcome.
■ How strong is your focus on extra-curricular activities?
We are giving a lot of focus to sports and the result is evident. We have been the champions for three consecutive years at the district level athletic meet. Our degree college has been champions for the last 26 consecutive years in athletics. So, on the whole, there is lot of attention on extra-curricular activities also.
■ What are the courses offered in the entire campus that you are accommodating?
We have two campuses spread across three acres. In campus A, we have pharmacy, which is the number one in the country, arts, science and commerce colleges, information sciences, and management college. In campus B, we have PU, law, high school and the college of education. Both campuses put together, there are about 8,000 students. As for now, we have had 60 PhDs from both the campuses and our chairman’s vision is to take it up to 100.
■ What is your view on the education system of the country?
Presently, the syllabus is not according to the market requirement. There are still some changes to be made in the education system to meet the expectations.