BEST PRACTICES

1. Title of the Best Practice: PWC-PRAYAS (Promotion of Responsible Action for Youth and Society)
2. Objectives and Principles: Patna Women’s College has undertaken PWC-PRAYAS (Promotion of Responsible Action for Youth and Society) under Institutional Social Responsibility (ISR) through different social outreach programmes and support services especially meant for the marginalized sections of the society. The basic principle of the practice is to provide assistance, remedial classes, financial aid and psychological support to the different categories of marginalized and underprivileged sections of the society and also to the needy students of our college. All the students of Patna Women’s College involved in various ISR initiatives have the opportunity to earn a maximum of 4 Non-Academic Credits.
The chief objectives of PWC-PRAYAS are:

• To inculcate the values of compassion, moral responsibility and social service among the students of the institution
• To identify the underprivileged groups of the society for reaching out to them
• To provide financial, moral, educational and psychological support the target groups at regular basis
• To empower the target groups with skill development and employment opportunities

3. The Context: PWC-PRAYAS has taken shape adhering to the objectives of the college that reads ‘to be committed to selfless service to the economically, socially, psychologically and spiritually deprived’. The mission statement of the college emphasizes on to train the students in social service and to create women leaders for social change. The practice of social outreach follows the institutional core value of ‘Social Responsibility and Empowerment of the Marginalized’.
4. The Practice: Patna Women’s College has undertaken its community outreach by the following ISR initiatives under the banner of PWC – PRAYAS (Promotion of Responsible Action for Youth and Society):
Inter College Women Association (ICWA): ICWA is an Inter-college initiative for the upliftment of children and women belonging to marginalized sections of our society. ICWA volunteers of the college under the guidance of teachers undertake literacy campaigns and social upliftment programmes in the neighbourhood areas for the slum children and women. At the same time ICWA provides services related to health, sanitation and rehabilitation to the inmates of Women’s Remand Home.
Manthan Project: Under this outreach programme, the student volunteers provide remedial teaching to the underprivileged school children at NGO Manthan, Khagaul. The students visit the centre on Saturdays to train the children in their school subjects.
Mother Veronica Development Scheme (MVDS): This scheme supports the economically backward meritorious students of the college through remedial teaching, library facilities, English communication, personality development sessions and skill development training.
Joy of Giving: Every year as a philanthropic effort the Joy of Giving Week is observed in the college. The students and staff collect cash and needful items during the week that is distributed among the poor, disaster victims, orphans, destitute women and leprosy patients.
School Mentorship Programme: PWC runs a mentorship programme in the 20 government secondary schools of Patna. Under this programme different departments have been assigned with mentee schools. The students under the guidance of ISR Coordinators provide classroom teaching and support in other co-curricular/ extra-curricular activities.
Platinum Jubilee Scholarships: This special scholarship for continuing the studies was established during the platinum jubilee year of the college in 2015 for the selected students with annual family income less than 1 lakh. Every year 150 students are benefitted by this welfare measure.
Outreach Programmes for marginalized groups: For underprivileged people like rickshaw pullers, house maids, rag pickers and Transgender friends, every year special Christmas Milan programmes are organized. Many other welfare measures are undertaken for them from time to time.
Special COVID initiatives: As a special COVID initiative, masks, hygiene items and provisions were distributed to slum dwellers, transgender groups, poor widows and other needy people of the society. During the COVID lockdowns bicycles and sewing machines were donated to selected support staff members of the college. Full fees waive off was done for 11 students who lost their earning members in the family due to pandemic. The members of the Student Council started a special COVID Helpline through social media to disseminate information regarding availability of hospital beds, oxygen cylinders, etc.
5. Evidence of Success: The outreach efforts of the institution have brought noticeable transformation in the overall performance of the beneficiaries.

• There is a marked progress in the performance of the learners associated with ICWA and Manthan Project. They are motivated to perform better in their studies. They have gained confidence and learned interpersonal skills. There is considerable reduction in dropout and failure rates.
• The college students enrolled in the MVDS are doing better in their studies. They have become more confident with computer training and English proficiency.
• The Platinum Jubilee Scholarship eased the load of tuition fees to a considerable extent for the recipients and their parents.
• The transgender members have gained much from the ISR initiatives of the institution. They have got an identity in the society with boost in their self-esteem.
• Our COVID initiatives have reached to many needy and deprived people and have helped them in the time of grave crisis.

6. Problems Encountered and Resources Required:

• Teachers and students at times find it difficult to manage time for outreach activities in their busy schedule.
• Resources are required for financial support given to the beneficiaries, scholarship fund, payments and remunerations for trainers and facilitators, conveyance and transport for reaching to concerned centres, and organizing different programmes, etc.
• There is problem in financial resource mobilization. College is bearing the total financial load for the outreach activities under PWC-PRAYAS at present.
• During the current COVID crisis and lockdowns, the overall functioning of various outreach activities were seriously disrupted.

1. Title of the Best Practice: CARMEL COMMUNITY COLLEGE – An alternative education system for non-collegiate women
2. Objectives and Principles: Carmel Community College is functioning in the PWC Campus with its sole principle to impart employability-oriented education to those women of our society who are either deprived from the conventional college education or are school/college drop-outs.
The chief objectives of the Carmel community college are:
• To evolve an alternative system of education for the less privileged women
• To focus on livelihood-based and employability centred training
• To enhance competency level, skill development and entrepreneurship skills among the trainees
• To develop strong Industry-Institution linkages for securing employment for the students
• To empower the marginalized women
3. The Context: In the light of the vision and mission statement of the institution, the Carmel Community College has been established to promote skill-oriented courses for empowerment of the marginalized women. The education system is contextually meant for facilitating professional skill-based practical training to those young women who are unable to get into conventional academic programmes due to some kind of unfavourable circumstances.
4. The Practice: Carmel Community College offers 3 skill-oriented courses namely (i) Health Care, (ii) Beauty Care and (iii) Tailoring. The minimum educational qualification required for undertaking these courses are Higher Secondary/ Matriculation. At the same time the girls/women must have knack in the concerned field of study and an entrepreneurship zeal.
Health Care is a 6-month course containing both theory and practical topics. The course includes fundamentals of nursing, personal hygiene, identification and control of infections, bio-medical waste management and preventive health care. The students are also trained practically about oral health cares, medications, patient care and handling patients, managing bed sores, preparing beds, and working on common medical care instruments.
Beauty Care is a 3-month course emphasising on the basic skills of a beautician. The course of study includes bridal make-up, hair care and styling, manicure, pedicure, skin care techniques of bleaching and waxing, threading, etc. The students receive both theory as well as practical training and become well trained for working in beauty salons and also for starting their own business.
Tailoring is a 6-month course providing hands-on training in needle work, cut work, stitching, cutting and tailoring. The students learn popular needle work stitches for preparing different craft items. They receive training for cutting and stitching common outfits like blouse, salwar, kurti, frock, petticoat, baby suit, etc. They are trained in working on sewing machines. They learn different types of cut work techniques such as patch work, applique, sequin work and beading.
5. Evidence of Success: The trainee women passing out from the Carmel Community College have gained self-confidence and competency to work in the competitive world of employment.
• Many of them after completing the course ‘Health Care’ are employed as technical assistants in prominent city hospitals like Paras HMRI, Mahavir Vatsalya and Jyoti Punj.
• The students completing the course of Beauty Care are working in beauty parlours, such as Javed Habib (Hotel Maurya), Shahnaz, Wendy Salon, and Elegance Makeup.
• Many passed-outs of ‘Tailoring’ course have found employment in upcoming boutiques like Yugshree and Rashita.
• Several passed-outs students have shown their entrepreneurship skills and have started their own business.
• They have turned out to be empowered women fulfilling their financial needs and also supporting the economic structures of their respective families.
6. Problems Encountered and Resources Required:
• There is lack of awareness among the masses, and general public regarding the facility of community college.
• The girls and women who are interested to join the courses often have to face opposition from their family members, especially those belonging to lower strata of society and slum dwellers.
• Resources are required for procurement and maintenance learning infrastructure and materials; such as medical tools, sewing machines, cloth samples and cosmetics items.
• There is problem in financial resource mobilization. College is bearing the total financial load required for conducting the classes, practical training sessions, purchasing of apparatuses and equipment, and procurement of required raw materials.