There is no match for Kristu Jayanti College (KJC) in the cultural space. For the past seven years, students of this college have been the undisputed winners of Bangalore University’s Youth Festival and have won laurels in the south and national finals. KJC became the 49th autonomous college in Karnataka when it gained the status last year, which the college believes came in a relatively short span of time. Established in 1999 by the Bodhi Niketan Trust formed by the members of the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate, KJC started with just nine students. Today, there are 3,083 students and 119 full-time faculty members spread across 13 undergraduate and seven postgraduate courses.
“With autonomy came a homely feeling. We were able to revamp our syllabus to incorporate social service. Our students are required to spend 30 hours during the course of their study by involving themselves in the National Cadet Corps, National Service Scheme or our own Centre for Social Activities,” says Principal Fr Josekutty PD.
Campus
KJC is housed on 8.5 acres of land in K Narayanapura, which is about 16 km away from the centre of the city. “The nine students we had when we started always joked that the college is in a jungle! It was difficult for us to get students. In the second year, we had 140 students in BCom, BSc and BCA courses, and we took the risk of hosting an inter-collegiate fest,” Fr Josekutty says.
Academics and facilities
With an intake of 360, the flagship programme offered in KJC is the Bachelor of Commerce courses. A separate section has been created for students who aspire to become chartered accountants or company secretaries. The Bachelor of Business Management and Computer Applications courses are also popular, filling up all 180 seats each.
“Commerce has been in demand in the recent past, which means that we don’t get many students for our BSc course. Still, we continue to offer basic science specialisations with as low as 14 students,” says Fr Josekutty. Admissions are based on merit and GD which is held for BBM aspirants to test their skills.
Other courses offered are Commerce and Management, Science and Humanities. There is a bioscience laboratory that is used by students for research and learning. There are seven computer labs and a library containing about 40,000 books and over 200 journals.
The fee for BCA, BSc and BCom is around Rs 35,000 pa and BBM is Rs 45,000 pa. The fee structure for BA courses is around Rs 25,000 pa. KJC has collaborated with foreign universities and institutes — Appalachian State University (USA), FHDW University, HNU University and Dortmund University (Germany), EM Normandie Business School and Pass World Consortium (France) — whose students visit KJC for short-term programmes.
Programmes such as Vinimay (talks by corporate leaders), Vichara Manthan (talks by renowned personalities) and tech talks are organised to help students keep abreast of industry developments.
Scholarships
According to Aloysius Edward, dean of Commerce and Management and coordinator of the Internal Quality Assurance Cell, students are entitled to the Kristu Jayanti Scholarship Scheme. “We offer the Jayanti Academic Grants for those with academic excellence, the Jayanti Talent Grants for students who do well in extracurricular activities and the Jayanti Upliftment Scheme for students from disadvantaged sections. A one-time amount of Rs 10,000 is awarded,” he explains. They also offer fee concessions to economically-backward students that amount to Rs 10 lakh to Rs 25 lakh a year.
Clubs and activities
An entire display case has been installed showcasing all the trophies that KJC students have bagged. “No other college has been able to match our cultural prowess in all the competitions that we have participated in,” says AL Calistus Jude, Dean of Science and Staff Coordinator for the Literary and Cultural Association (LCA) at KJC. “I think our strongest area is music and dance. We have an acclaimed western acoustic group called Signature that comprises of brilliant voices from Africa and Philippines,” says Mekayel Mathew, a third-year BCom student and secretary of the LCA. Signature has been the national champion in its genre for the last six years.
There are 20 clubs such as Environmental Science Club, Commerce Club, Tourism Club and Erudite Club. A strong cultural team is the result of Kalajyothi, an internal talent hunt contest that is organised. Nrityanjali and Sargotsav are the other cultural fests organised by the college.
Future plans
A perspective growth plan developed by the management envisions university status for KJC in the next three-five years, Fr Josekutty says. “This is in line with the University Grants Commission’s Rashtriya Uchchtar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) scheme that encourages autonomy and universities, so we plan to make a pitch for it,” he signs off.
bharath@newindianexpress.com
