Gold medalists celebrate during 1st convocation ceremony of Kohima Science College (Autonomous) Jotsoma on November 30. (Morung Photo)
349 graduating students get certificates, 32 awarded gold medals
Our Correspondent
Kohima | November 30
The Kohima Science College (Autonomous) Jotsoma on November 30 conducted its 1st convocation ceremony where 349 graduating students received their certificates and 32 students got gold medals.
Gracing the occasion, Nagaland’s Higher Education & Tribal Affairs Minister Temjen Imna Along said that the graduating students are indispensable assets of the state, nation and of the world.
“All of you should be a part of the capital building process of the state and of the country and uphold the dignity of the college and the state.”
The minister said that the first world nations create knowledge which can be commercialised, capitalised, sold.
“Even some leading countries in the third-world create valuable knowledge. Multinational companies invest a lot of resources on creation of knowledge. They research, innovate, patent and sell. And they make millions and millions of money out of it,” he said.
Stating that knowledge is emerging as a very important capital, he asserted that as “knowledge is directly or indirectly linked to economy, it is connected to power. Powerful nations are those rich economies. In other words, the countries with human capital and sellable knowledge have powerful economies, because their economies are driven by knowledge.”
‘Be creators of job and not just mere job seekers'
Imna Along also stressed on the need to be creators of job and not just mere job seekers and at the same time to be entrepreneurs, innovators and inventors.
“Those who invent, innovate are no different from you,” he said.
“Always remember that you are a brand product. You all carry the brand image of Kohima Science College. Carry the best of the brand wherever you go. Exhibit the best qualities of this College,” he advised.
Stating that after two and three years of studies, the students have developed essentials professional attributes which are part of learning outcomes for their curriculum.
He asked them to continue to sharpen these attributes and use them in their short term and long term goals.
Touching on the path of excellence, the minister said “Excellence is never ending. Excellence in a degree is just the beginning of another path to another excellence.”
KSC’s journey so far
Giving a brief history of the college, Principal Dr Lily Sema informed that KSC was established in 1961 with a vision “to develop the college into a research driven hub of national and international repute, focusing on science education as the central mission”.
Affiliated to Nagaland University, the college is now 60 years old.
“In the last 6 decades, this college has produced countless luminaries of alumni who are scientists, academicians, technocrats, bureaucrats, politicians and other responsible men & women of our state, the country, and around the world,” she said.
An under graduate college till 2014 when it was granted Academic Autonomy by the UGC, it is now the only Autonomous Government PG College in the State offering Under Graduate, Post Graduate and PhD programmes.
The college is recognised as a Post Graduate College in the list of colleges under section 2(f) and 12B of the University Grant Commission (UGC) Act 1956.
NAAC has accredited the college with “A” grade for two consecutive cycles with CGPA 3.05 and 3.42 in 2011 and 2017 respectively.
The college has been following the Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) as per the UGC guidelines and national framework since 2016 and offers BA/BSc Under Graduate Honours Programmes in altogether 12 departments, MSc Programmes in 7 departments and PhD programmes in Botany, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics and Zoology.
She said that the college has over a hundred faculty members and 80 staff catering to around 2000 students.
‘Promotion of skilled-based courses, student-centric teaching & learning’
“We continuously strive to fulfill our mission by utilizing the academic autonomy granted to us by the UGC to develop and maintain high academic standards in accordance with the national framework and changing academic and social benchmarks, Dr Sema said.
She said the mission of the college is to enable students to develop their potentials to the fullest and become productive and responsible citizens of the contemporary society and the country.
“We strive to promote skilled-based courses, student-centric teaching & learning; to promote original and quality research with emphasis on interdisciplinary approach; to encourage and support the faculty members to enhance their academic proficiency, inculcating a sense of team work and community service among students and faculty, “ she said adding that the college is also endeavour to foster and institutionalize innovative and best practices in the work place by using transparent and decentralized working environment.
The college has MoUs with two foreign universities: University of Minnesota, US and Surindra Rajabhat University, Thailand for academic and cultural exchanges besides other departments in the state.
Since the grant of Autonomy in 2014, 1631 students from five batches of BA/BSc and 317 students from 3 batches of MSc have passed out. A total of 1923 students have graduated in the last five years.
