Considering the scale of participation at most college fests, it's taken for granted that most students in the City are pretty serious about their extracurricular activities.
They tackle various cultural programmes — like singing and dancing competitions as well as the more obscure events, like face-painting — with a lot of enthusiasm. Sustaining this sort of hobby, though, is anything but easy. Practising time eats into classes, attendance issues can crop up and balancing academics with their chosen interest can prove to be quite a challenge.
This, though, is where the college comes in. Most of the institutions in the City are pretty focussed on providing support to students who are trying out their hand at different activities — whether by providing extra classes to make up for attendance, giving the students the time and space to indulge in their interest or simply supporting the different societies that represent the institute at other fests.
In Mount Carmel College, for instance, students are offered a variety of credit courses that fall strictly outside the academic syllabus.
Spoorthi, a student of the college, explains, "Our teachers help us a lot in this regard. They try to incorporate different activities into our curriculum. For instance, we're encouraged to take up these credit courses — there are over 150 of them to choose from, ranging from learning a particular language to something like pottery or painting. We get a certificate from the college when we complete the course."
Attendance, she goes on to add, has never been an issue. "Most of these activities take place after college hours or on weekends. And the college is also supportive of students who want to pursue something apart from these credit courses — like adventure sports or mountaineering," she adds.
Nobody understands this issue better than students who are part of their college committees. Organising fests and handling events can take quite a bit of effort and it isn't easy to handle this without the support to faculty members. Achuthan, from Acharya
Institute of Management and Studies, points out, "It's important to maintain a balance between studies and other activities — and colleges these days seem to be encouraging that. Faculty members also know that it isn't just about being book-smart. This is pretty obvious, seeing the number of events being organised by colleges."
A A Powly, a professor at HKBK College of Engineering, agrees that the staff of a college plays a huge role in encouraging students. "We do give a lot of importance to cultural programmes — in fact, we hold competitions at the intra and inter-departmental level.
The best students are chosen to perform at our college annual day and we also
encourage them to take part in inter-collegiate meets," she states.
She feels that there are many little ways in which teachers can make it easier for students to handle these different responsibilities.
"We have classes until 3 pm but after that, the students are provided with the time and space to practise their respective passions. When it comes to inter-collegiate competitions, we also help them out in terms of attendance and work with them separately on the portions they have missed in class," she adds.
Ultimately, she is of the opinion that college isn't just about academics. "This is the time for students to explore their different interests. Later, when they start working, it won't be so easy. Teachers have to realise this and encourage them," she concludes.