KOCHI: As the iconic Maharaja’s College in Ernakulam approaches its 150th anniversary in 2025, the institution is undertaking ambitious projects aimed at enhancing its academic performance and climbing higher in the NIRF ranking, principal V S Joy has said.
Some of these projects include the establishment of an online examination centre and providing Wi-Fi coverage for the entire campus, ensuring that students, especially those from financially disadvantaged backgrounds, have access to the Internet for research purposes.
Speaking to TNIE, V S Joy, principal of the college, said, “The anniversary celebrations will be year-long and an itinerary is being drawn up. However, we have already come up with a lot of projects and proposals aimed at improving the performance of the college.”
One of the major proposals that are being submitted before the Higher Education Minister R Bindu is the setting up of a Continuing Education Cell in the college, which is deemed necessary and overdue.
“Then there is the requirement of an online examination centre.
The centre is very much needed in this digital era,” said the principal. According to him, it has also been proposed to provide Wi-Fi coverage for the entire campus. “This will help students, 90 per cent of whom hail from financially weak families, get access to the internet for research works,” he added.
The college has also placed a request for the construction of a hockey stadium and ground under Cochin Smart Mission Ltd (CSML). “We are also in need of a technical and IT wing. The IT wing will help during times like the one that we faced recently regarding the mark list issue.
If we have in-house software and hardware experts, we will be able to tackle most of the technology-related issues. Then the technical wing will be able to take off the various issues that the 11-acre campus faces day-to-day,” said the principal.
Another critical proposal is the construction of a dedicated examination hall to avoid disrupting classes during exams.” Then there is the urgent need for a permanent controller of examination. At present, the lecturers are given the duty as an additional charge.
This affects their regular work and also the quality of preparations regarding the examination process,” said Joy. Besides these main proposals, other proposals too have been drawn up, he added.
New ladies hostel to be inaugurated today
After a long wait, the new ladies’ hostel will be inaugurated by Minister Bindu on Friday. Though the construction of the hostel building had been over more than a year, it had remained out of bounds for the students. With more than 75 per cent of the students of the college are from districts as far as Wayanad and Kasaragod, the need for accommodation has been very dire.
The college had only one hostel for ladies that could accommodate around 100 students. The rest had to seek other options. “However, with the opening of the new hostel, another 156 students will be able to get accommodation. Of course, we know that accommodation is a big issue but the college has limitations,” said Joy.
Major proposals