Completing 30 years of imparting education, Wesley Degree College (co-ed) in Secunderabad, has carved a niche for itself when it comes to sports and games. Taking forward centuries’ old legacy of promoting education, the history of this college dates back to 1879, when the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society of London, started evangelical missionary work in the capital city of the erstwhile Nizam’s dominion of Hyderabad. A school was established in 1905. The school gradually, over the years, grew into several educational institutions managed by Church of South India.
Affiliated to Osmania University, the college is accredited by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) with a B grade. However, what makes Wesleyans stand out from the rest is the importance given to sports and games. Wesley has been champions in cricket, body building, basketball and tennis for years, and has produced legends like VVS Laxman.
The ambience of the college is learning-oriented, says KS Devanand, Principal of Wesley Degree College. “We are a centrally located college with spacious classrooms, well-equipped laboratories and sprawling playgrounds. We are known for our physical education training, sports and games,” says Devanand. The college, which is a Christian minority institution, has students from all sections and classes of the society.
Courses offered
The college offers courses in BCom General and Computers. Also, BSc in three different combinations, namely, Maths, Physics, Computer Science; Maths, Electronics, Computer Science and Maths, Statistics, Computer Science. A Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication, Political Science and English Literature is also offered. The college also offers language training in Telugu, Hindi, Sanskrit, Arabic and French. Certificate and Diploma courses are also offered in Networking, Multimedia, Soft Skills and Web Programming.
Faculty
There are about 40 teaching faculty for a total strength of 1,200 students across departments like Commerce, English, Languages, Mathematics, Statistics, Physics, Electronics, Computer Science, Mass Communication and Political Science. Apart from the routine teaching duties, teachers also serve as mentors to students. At the beginning of the course, each teacher is assigned a group of 40 students to monitor and mentor. “We give special attention to weak students and help them gain confidence. Certificate and add-on courses are carefully designed keeping different needs and requirements of students in mind,” says MJ Eliat, Head of the Department of ommerce.
Infrastructure
Spacious classrooms, corridors and the green cover are things that makes the college experience special here. The college building is CCTV monitored. Each department has a specialised library and computer laboratory apart from the central library and computer lab. State of-the-art laboratories include Physics, Electronics, Commerce, Computer Science, English and Communication departments. There is an auditorium, LED projector rooms, six-station mini gym, indoor facilities for table tennis, shuttle badminton and tennis. All the departments are internet-connectivity enabled.
Extracurricular activities
Talent and creativity is never ignored here, they say. The college organises WESCON, an inter-collegiate literary and cultural festival every year. The Commerce, Science and Language clubs conduct subject-specific competitions regularly. Wesley Women’s wing holds several programmes to instill self-confidence in girl students. Student monitors from each class, who are part of the Student Representative Council, meet with the Principal twice to discuss issues students face. Grievance cells and an anti-ragging cell is also present. Three students from the current batch of BCom, Y Harish, N Nilkamal, K Sainath, G Krishnakumar Reddy and Akshay Raj have represented the college in state and national-level cricket tournaments.
“We are known for sports, we have the facilities and expertise, which is why we strive to be the best and remain the best. Our students will stand out in any cricketing or body-building championship any day,” says J Ajay Kumar,
Physical Director.
NCC and NSS
Around 100 students are enrolled in the National Service Scheme (NSS) and several students participate in the camps conducted by them. Eye camps and blood donation camps are held regularly where important days such as World Aids Day and Human Rights Day are commemorated.
There is an active naval and air wing of the National Cadet Corpse (NCC). Cadets here participate in several national camps and competitions, and bring laurels to the college. “We are not only taught to focus on academics, but it feels great when all aspects of learning which includes extracurricular activities are also given equal importance,” says an NSS volunteer Harshvardhan Rao.
Alumni
The college boasts of a long list of alumni who have excelled in different walks of life. The alumni list is dominated by sportsmen ranging from legendary cricketer VVS Laxman, IPL star Tirumalasetti Suman, N Arjun Yadav who played for India in under-19 World Cup in 2002, tennis stars Suresh Krishna and J Vishnuvardhan. Alumni meet is organised once a year where the current batch of students get to interact with the past students.
Placements
The placement cell of the college offers free career guidance, personality development training and soft skill training to students in the final-year. “Workshops and seminars are conducted frequently on various topics. Companies like HSBC, Deloitte, Nipuna, Wipro, Apollo Health, and ICICI conduct campus recruitment and a good number of students are placed every year,” says K Vijendra, Librarian and Placement Officer.