Bridging the Rural-Urban Knowledge Divide:
Nestled in an agrarian setting, NCAS since its inception has been empowering youngsters of this backward region which has a considerable tribal population, Tamil repatriates from Sri Lanka, settler farmers and women from conservative as well as indigenous communities, with education ‘on a par’ with international standards.
Mixed Linguistic Culture:
With a mixed linguistic culture of Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada, the institution caters to students whose mother tongues are varied and who represent multicultural lineage. In the Gudalur region of Nilgiris Tamil and Malayalam are spoken with equal importance. The region also has a considerable population of settlers from Karnataka who speak Kannada. Apart from these linguistic sections, the institution also serves students from indigenous tribal communities including Paniya, Kattunayikka and Badaka who speak dialects sans any well-structured letters, script and text.
Inaccessibility to Higher Education:
The Gudalur and Pandalur taluks of Nilgiri district from where more than 4000 higher secondary students qualify for higher education, have only one Government College. The district headquarters Ooty which has another Government College is more than four hours away. Though the nearby Wayanad district of Kerala has few other institutions, they are also struggling to accommodate students. Only the affluent of the region were able to send their wards for higher education, that too in farflung cities.
‘Locally Rooted - Globally Connected’
To address the aforesaid crucial issues faced by the region the visionary leadership of the Trust had decided to establish a World class institute at an affordable cost in tune with the concept of
‘LGMC’, the leading spirit:
‘Learn, Grow, Mature and Contribute’ (LGMC) is the philosophy that shaped the educational process of NCAS. Entering the institution, the students would start the process of ‘learning’ which would result in their ‘Growing’ (Intellectual, Emotional and Social), transforming them into a ‘Mature’ citizen and finally, becoming a ‘complete’ personality, they would start ‘Contributing’ back to the society in many ways empowering the family, community and the nation.
The repertoire of “Thirukkural”
A repertoire of wisdom, the text “Thirukkural” (Tamil classical text) has become the spirit of value education in the campus. It is a must for a student to learn and imbibe the spirit of 40 verses pertaining to education, family life, respect to elders, search of happiness, success in life etc. To induct the “Thirukkural” to education, visionary of the institution Mr.Rashid Gazzali himself authored an appreciation of selected couplets in Malayalam, Tamil and English.
‘Fit Campus’
Acting in tune with the ‘Fit India’ vision of our Honorable Prime Minister aiming at bringing up a healthier population, the institute has introduced ‘Fit Campus’ mission with multiple initiatives to ensure mental and physical fitness through advanced sports facilities and conducting Yoga, Counseling and meditation sessions. The institute which earns its name for organic farming also ensures ‘nutrient rich’ quality food for students and staffs, produced in its own farm field. A Sports Academy also has been established.
‘Digital Campus’
Acting on the lines of ‘Digital India” mission, the institute launched ‘Digital Campus’ initiative. To access unhindered digital connectivity the institute has provided ‘400 mbps bandwidth connectivity. Most of the operational procedures are AI enabled. With three robots, students will also get a ‘hands on’ feel of Robotics. All the classrooms are ICT and Wi-Fi enabled.
Skill Campus
A concept of ‘Skill Bank’ has been formed in line to the Skill India Mission which helps in polishing, promoting and fine-tuning the skills of students to cope with the needs of emerging social and industrial opportunities. During the admission time itself, students enlist their preferred Psychomotor and unique skills and enroll for various certification programmes under the Skill Bank.
Teachers’ Day- students act as Leaders of Institution
Come 5th September every year, the NCAS students would observe the Teachers’ Day in a unique way. On the day the teachers would be free from all their routine works, as the students who would be stepping into the shoes of teachers, turn to be the ‘Leaders’ of the day. The roles of HoDs, Principal, Academic Dean, Manager and Secretary and Managing Director also would be handled by the students themselves. On the day the students also enjoy the privilege of sanctioning various programmes and welfare projects. It serves as a unique platform to showcase their ‘maturity’ as well as their efficiency to ‘contribute’ which is the outcome of LGMC concept.
Adopting the Philosophy of LGMC
Thanks to the efforts of visionaries behind NCAS through right ‘Learning’ methods, the institution has proved a boon to the backward region ensuring both academic as well as employment opportunities in leaps and bounds for its progeny. ‘Growing’ up scaling the skies, the alumni from the region who might have otherwise ended up as farm labourers, marginal farmers or those doing allied menial jobs, have now found a space in many reputed global business and industrial brands including Wipro, Infosys, TCS and HCL etc. The NCAS alumni are ‘contributors’ being a part of voluntary organizations, charity movements, neo-agrarian initiatives and social restructuring programmes proving their ‘Maturity’ of becoming a better social being. Igniting the pride of serving the society during the college days, these youngsters are extending their support to explore better initiatives and models, thus ‘Contributing’ their due back to the fellow beings.
Wings of Progress
Though spaced recently among the galaxy of elite institutions, in the small span of time on academic front the students of the institution have bagged 97% result including 20 university ranks. Adding to its significance, 80% of the students are first generation graduates from their families as their parents and elder siblings failed to have the luxury of higher education due to varied social, geographic and financial reasons.