Kolkata’s St Xavier’s college to upgrade all UG departments to PG studies as part of ‘Vision 2025’ roadmap
St Xavier’s College (Autonomous) is upgrading all of its undergraduate departments to postgraduate studies within the next three years as part of its Vision 2025 roadmap, headmaster Dominic Savio said on the institute’s 15th convocation.
The college plans to introduce PhD programs in Bengali and English very soon, followed by the commencement of doctoral studies in all departments, he said on Saturday.
Savio said construction on the College’s new campus near EM Bypass will begin soon as part of Vision 2025 to be completed in three years.
“This is the third campus of the college, after the Kolkata campus and the rural campus of Raghabpur in South 24-Parganas district, which is home to a state-of-the-art hub. “It will house the Department of Mass Communications and Multimedia, the community radio station, a modern incubation center for facilitating startups and modern research facilities for Science PG departments,” said the director.
The college is set to launch its ‘School for Gender Studies’ at its rural campus in Raghabpur from next month. “The aim is to give knowledge and self-confidence to girls students, as well as to make their relatives, neighbors and others aware of gender equality. The center also has a plan to start peer-reviewed journals on the subject, both in English and Bengali, with ISSN numbers,” he said.
Calcutta University Vice Chancellor Prof Sonali Chakravarti Banerjee presided over the convocation. Leading cardiac surgeon and Xaverian, Dr. Kunal Sarkar, received this year’s Nihil Ultra Award for his outstanding contribution to society, especially during the corona period.
Nine PhD, 352 PG, 2,539 UG and 95 BEd students were awarded their diplomas during this year’s on-campus convocation, the first physical convocation at an educational institution in the city in the past two years.
Father Savio said that as part of the expansion plan, the rural campus in Raghabpur is also being upgraded to bridge the rural-urban divide among the students in the society.
Apart from new PG departments, Raghabpur campus is also going to offer vocational courses designed to meet the needs of the local people.
A skills development center is also planned at Raghabpur Campus to provide technical skills to the local rural residents.
