About Us
Best Practices
KRIPA (STUDENT AID FUND)
Ours is a rural institution where students come from socially and economically backward families. The majority of students who study here are wards of farmers, coir workers, and fisher folk. A section of students in college are unable to bring lunch due to their family situation, and hence stay hungry on campus. There are also students who have to skip breakfast due to various reasons. Some of them are also unable to purchase study materials. When teachers realized that there are many students who suffer from similar problems, they kept aside a fixed amount each month from their own salaries to help deserving students. Apart from current teachers, retired teachers, students, alumni and philanthropists also try to be a part of the program by donating to the fund.
This practice thus intends to better the learning environment of financially backward students, to prevent the dropping out of students, and to support student’s academic and social upliftment by providing them with necessary support and help. In essence, the objective of the program is to find solutions according to the situations and by understanding the students’ general and specific troubles. This in turn would help nurture confidence, sense of purpose and humanitarian values among students.
Even though only mid-day meals were provided in the first phase of the program that began in 2004, notebooks, stationary items, textbooks etc. were also provided to the students later on. Last year, during the period of COVID pandemic, when we transitioned to online classes, the money from the program was used to buy smartphones for students who couldn’t afford one. Deserving students are handpicked during each academic year. Tutor’s and other teachers’ assessment, suggestions from classmates, and direct application go into the process of picking the beneficiaries. The privacy of the students is ensured while providing assistance.
The project has been running successfully since it was first implemented. Students who were academically behind due to social and economic backwardness were brought to the forefront through this program. It ensured the continuity of education to those students who had discontinued due to financial reasons. It reduced the number of students who totally discontinued their education or bunked afternoon classes and instilled confidence and sense of purpose among them. By understanding their classmates’ situation and by lending a hand in whichever way possible, it also create a sense of responsibility in students of the college and instill moral values among them.
ORGANIC FARMING
The National Service Scheme Unit of Sree Narayana College has been practicing organic farming every year, since 2015. The aim of organic farming was to cultivate organic vegetables without using any chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The objective was to produce the organic vegetables for Vishu, a harvest festival in Kerala on 14th April every year. Hence this project was given the name “Vishu Pachcha”. These kinds of practices with student participation will be helpful in familiarizing students with green agricultural practices and instill in them a love and respect for Mother earth.
Organic farming which first started in December 2015 is still running successfully. Initially farming was done in 50 cents of land inside the college campus. The project was first undertaken with financial assistance from the Krishi Bhavan of Mararikulam North Grama Panchayath. The programme also benefitted from partial funding from the college. The cultivation was completely organic in nature using natural fertilizers like cow dung & chicken manure. Proper care was given to the seedings. Daily monitoring was done by the NSS Programme Officers and the volunteers. Volunteers were allotted daily duties related to farming. Watering of the plants was done twice daily in the morning and evening. Weeding was done whenever necessary. Pseuomonas (bacteria) and Trichoderma (fungus) were added to prevent diseases. Neem based products were used regularly to prevent and destroy pests. Fish amino acid was regularly applied to improve the plant growth. Regular manuring was done using cow dung and chicken manure. Pests found were handpicked and destroyed at an early stage. Snake guard, bitter gourd, lady’s finger, amaranths, brinjal, green gram, pumpkin, spinach, cucumber, rice, tapioca, sweet potato, pea, maize, ginger etc. were cultivated. Karanellu Krishi (Dry land cultivation) of 2020-21 was a major highlight of this project.
Organic vegetables have a good market and fetch higher prices than vegetables grown using artificial fertilizers and pesticides. A stall was set up in front of the college gate by the volunteers for the sale of harvested vegetables and grains to the general public. Rest of the harvest was marketed through the Panchayath Development Society (PDS) of Mararikulam North Grama Panchayath.
PROJECT PAPYRUS
PROJECT PAPYRUS is a green initiative by the E D club, Sree Narayana College, Cherthala to manufacture recycled hand made papers. The E D club organized hands on training on “ Hand made paper making” on 23/03/22. The programme was conducted to inculcate entrepreneurial culture among the students , to equip them with skills, techniques and to bring out their talents. Hand made papers not only reduces disposal of the waste papers of the campus but also ensures its contribution towards green initiatives of the campus, along with the steady flow of income from the local market.
The first phase of the programme was a training session for the students. They were taught to make paper from the scrap papers of the campus. Students collected scrap papers from the departments and soaked it overnight. Soaked paper was converted into pulp using a blender and was poured on to a mould. The moulds were pressed and dried in shade. The students perfected the art of making hand made paper by frequent trials.
During the second phase held in August 2022, hands-on training was given to more students.In this phase,more number of student volunteers were involved and massive production of hand made papers from a commercial point of view were focused upon.And these papers found buyers from the local market in our vicinity.
DIGI NEIGHBOURHOOD PROGRAMME
Digi Neighbourhood Programme is a series of digital initiatives undertaken by the IQAC of Sree Narayana College Cherthala.It aims at the digital empowerment of the students of our institution and they in turn take this venture forward to the neighbourhood areas of the college. the idea behind this initiative is to make a qualitative intervention in the life of the people of the locality by our student volunteers so that they will be digitally empowered. The student volunteers attempted to educate the public on different digital platforms and apps. Famers will be taught on how to use mobile apps for various purposes related to agriculture and weather forecast. Kudumbasree units will be taught on how to use digital conference platforms like Google meet for their meetings and other activities.
As a first step, IQAC organized a workshop on “DigiLocker – An initiative for digital empowerment” for the students on 9th March 2021 & 13th March 2021. The programme aims at ‘Digital Empowerment’ of the students. The programme was held in two phases. The first phase was an orientation cum training programme for the students. In the second phase, the trained volunteers gave awareness to the public in the nearby locality and helped them to install and use the app on their mobile phones. A total of 83 students participated in the programme.
During the second phase, the trained volunteers visited the houses in the nearby locality. They gave awareness to the public regarding the benefits of this app. They visited nearly thirty houses. The volunteers also helped the public to install the app on their mobile phones. They also helped the public to safeguard their important documents digitally.
