Best Practices

Best Practice 1

Title of the Practice: Intellectual Growth of Students through Debating Skill

Objective: It is better to debate a question, be it ethical, political or surreal, without settling it than to settle a question without debating it. A leading institution is the one that inspires its students to engage on a debate on the most relevant issues frankly and thoroughly. The students must be inspired to talk rationally and fearlessly, and they must have the patience to listen to what other people think. There are numerous benefits of debate. The greatest benefit is that it helps students see the power of deploying rational and reasoned argument on a burning topic of our Country or our State in a persuasive way before the public. The College firmly believes that the students must have a say on the burning issues of the society, and debate among them on the burning issues of the society pertaining to its affairs on politics, economics and culture provides experiences that are conducive to life-changing, cognitive and public-speaking skills. Therefore, the College has been organizing All Assam Inter College Sadananda Chaliha Memorial Speech Competition and Najeebur Rahman Memorial Quiz Competition in the month of October every year.

Context: Some of the brilliant students of the College have the alacrity to participate in a debate on a big platform on the most important issues of the society. But they didn’t get the proper platform for that. The College took stock of it and finally took the resolution to organise a state level speech and quiz competition in fond memory of two prominent persons who had long term association with the College: late Sadananda Chaliha and late Najeebur Rahman. Late Sadananda Chaliha, an eminent historian of his time, was the long serving principal of the College who took this seat of learning to newer height of excellence. Late Najeebur Rahman was the first president of the Governing Body of the College. Both of them contributed significantly to the growth of the College.

Practice: Every year a burning issue of the state is chosen by the committee, comprising students and teachers, as the topic for the speech competition. Most of the colleges of the state are invited to participate in both the events. A screening test is conducted exclusively to select three of our students, one for speech competition and two for quiz competition.

Evidence of Success: Every year around 20 colleges of the state participate in it. The teachers, non-teaching staff and the whole student community of the college look forward to this state level event. The College also invites the prominent personalities of the locality to the event. The enthusiasm of the selected participants from our College knows no bound.

Problems Encountered and Resources Required: Sometimes it becomes so difficult to select just three students from among the students of the college for the two competitions. Most of the colleges are invited, but only 20 to 25 colleges of the state come to participate. The prize money needs to be increased a little bit. There is always a time pressure as both the competitions take place in a single day.

Best Practice 2

Title of the Practice: Creation of Eco-friendly Campus

Objective: Life indeed becomes a joyous experience if we get the opportunity to stay in an eco-friendly campus. True, we may not be fortunate to get such a campus. But if we have will we can create such campus for us. Greening the campus is all about planting sufficient trees inside it, sweeping away wasteful inefficiencies and using conventional sources of energies for its daily power needs, correct disposal handling, purchase of environment friendly supplies and effective recycling program. Institute has to work out the time bound strategies to implement green campus initiatives. These strategies need to be incorporated into the institutional planning and budgeting processes with the aim of developing a clean and green campus. Biswanath College is an illustrious institution which has been relentlessly trying to promote an eco-friendly campus in such a way that it fosters a sense of connection to the natural world, promotes sustainable development and encourages conservation of irreplaceable natural resources and vulnerable plants. By doing so the college desperately wants to send a message to the society in this regard. Through different environment-related activities involving students, teachers, NCC cadets, NSS volunteers and office employees, the college wants to protect, conserve and reserve the environment of the locality in general, and its campus in particular.

Context: “The earth is”, says Windell Berry, “what we all have in common.” One of the greatest challenges that the whole earth faces today is environment pollution. Indeed, it has become a monstrous issue affecting the lives of millions of living things, let alone human beings, across the world. It’s high time that we take appropriate measure to make it healthy. The very place where the college is located is an ideal spot of natural ambience. Most importantly, the college has a very big campus. At present, the campus area of the college is 119900 square metres, and built area is 14300 square metres. In and around the locality deforestation was going on in full swing. It was illegally carried out by a section of greedy businessmen. Being the leading institute on the north bank of the river Brahmaputra, the college decided to carry out tree plantation drive and cleanliness drive in the desired way.

Practice: The College has taken a firm resolve to conduct tree plantation programme and cleanliness drive particularly on World Environment Day and on the college’s foundation day. As mentioned earlier, the college has enviably sufficient land for it. The college authority contacts the forest departments and collets saplings of valuable trees which are planted in the College campus by teachers, students, NCC cadets, NSS volunteers and office employees.

Evidence of Success: The greenery of the whole campus of the College is enough proof of success of the practice. All the visitors to the college and the stakeholders appreciate the natural ambience of the college.

The college has literally become a plastic-free zone.

NCC cadets and NSS volunteers are enthused to conduct cleanliness drives outside the college campus. In fact they come forward for any drives initiated by college, be it cleanliness drive or tree plantation drive. Students got the desired motivation to do something significant to protect, conserve and reserve the environment of the locality in general, and its campus in particular.

Interactive programmes are organised with prominent environment activists to make the students sensitive towards our environment. One of such interactive programmes was organised by IQAC in collaboration with Tezpur University with eminent environmental activist Padmashree Jadav Payeng, popularly known as the Forest Man of India, on 10th November, 2018. In his address to the students, Mr. Payeng dwelt at length on his mammoth task of planting trees and thereby creating a habitat for wild animals. He urged the students to plant more and more trees to save the environment.

Mr. Ranjit Kakoti, a research scholar and alumnus of Biswanath College, has been working relentlessly for conservation of Lesser Adjutant Stork in Kochgaon area of Biswanath Chariali. Teachers and students of Zoology Department of the college joined hands with Mr. Kakoti in this venture. They are silently working for the conservation of this species, known in Assamese as “Bortukula.” Popular talk and art competition on conservation of biodiversity was organised by college near the nesting site of “Bortukula” at Kochgaon. As part of bird watch programme students of the college go to the site.

Only organic manures are used in the College garden.

LED lights are installed in almost all the buildings of the College to save power.

Throughout the year banners are kept on display asking the students to keep the college campus plastic-free and clean.

Within the whole campus at least 15 waste bins are placed. Some of these are handmade bamboo bins.

 Nests are built on the trees in the college campus to attract birds.

A herbal garden is maintained inside the campus.

A small botanical garden is also maintained in front of the Chemistry Department.

Department of Zoology is producing vermicompost which is used for maintaining the college garden.

Problems Encountered and Resources Required: After the plantation part, trees need to be protected from cows and goats. Organic manures are to be applied sporadically. The protection part needs to be taken seriously. In this regard, our students are to be made sensitive. Those trees are to be preferred which have physiological potential matched with college beautification and fruit productivity. One major constraint that is currently perceived is the shortage of good planting material for the plantation programmes. Most importantly, these plantation drives should be conducted outside the college campus frequently.

Apart from these two best practices, there are also some other practices which benefit the students of the College in a significant way. They are as follows:

To motivate students to become responsible citizens of the country and to keep them abreast of the current affairs of the society, the college often organises interactive programmes and popular talks. One of the most important academic events of the College is Ripunjoy Tamuli Memorial Lecture, which is organised on 25th November every year.

Most of the students of the College are from poor financial background. Keeping this in view the College and its different departments and societies initiated several moves in order to bring the financially weak but meritorious students at par with general students. They are as follows: 1. The Biswanath College Sanchai Aru Wrindan Samity Limited offers scholarships to meritorious students. 2. The Poor Student Aid Fund of the College offers financial assistance to the poor but meritorious students. 3. The Department of English of the College annually offers Purna Hazarika Memorial Award which includes a memento and an amount of Rs. 5000.00 to the best graduate of the department. 4. Full tuition waiver is given to a few exceptionally meritorious and needy students of the college. 5. Chabilal Upadhyaya Memorial Educational Trust of the College offers scholarships to the poor but meritorious students of science stream. 6. The Late Khagendra Nath Bhattacharyya Memorial Award was instituted to help one student who secures the highest marks in economics (honours). This award includes Rs. 1500.00 and a citation. 7. The Department of Chemistry annually gives Kamal Parajuli Memorial Award to the best graduate in chemistry. The award includes a certificate, a memento and an amount of Rs. 5000.00. 8. Ripunjoy Tamuly Memorial Trust offers books and the tuition fees to one poor but meritorious student of arts stream.

For the betterment of the college, IQAC in cooperation with college administration regularly conducts academic, administrative and green audit.

Every year Biswanath College Students’ Union in collaboration with Biswanath Chariali unit of All Assam Students’ Union organises a wall-painting competition among the students of all institutions of the locality on environment-related issues.