Equipping women for a sustainable society
Since its inception in 1955, Bishop Chulaparambil Memorial College has undertaken the vision of shaping young women to thrive and excel as socially committed responsible citizens. It has a long tradition in transforming the lives of young women and enabling them to excel in their roles for building a sustainable society. The college serves as a center of excellence for women from all strata of society in the field of higher education. The vision and mission of the college focus on molding intellectually nourished, morally upright, socially committed and spiritually inspired citizens by inculcating human values, environmental consciousness and economic efficiency among students.
Inculcating human values for Social well-being
BCM- OJASS is an initiative of the entire BCM community to instill social commitment as an integral component of sustainable society. To meet this objective, the college systematically organizes all socially relevant activities under the aegis of BCM- OJASS, a registered society. It provides financial support for educational and medical purposes. Students and staff voluntarily contribute for the smooth functioning of OJASS. ‘BCM Snehaveedu’, a house construction project of BCM OJASS has completed the construction of six houses during the last six years. The college is immensely proud to have delivered the five newly built homes to the college’s students, which cost over twelve lakh rupees.
OJASS has carried out an outreach programme in Pongampally, a tribal hamlet in Kanthalloor Panchayat in Idukki since 2008. For mainstreaming this community, the college organises various awareness programs, focusing on educating the children of the community. School supplies are distributed among the children in Pongampally. The students organise ‘Dostana’, a summer camp, where training and interactive sessions are held on socially relevant topics. The students have set up a makeshift library and have arranged tuition facilities for students to help them in their academics.
As part of bringing forth children from various children’s homes and juvenile homes, students conduct a cultural festival, ‘Samanawaya Sandhya’ through special training. The students organize ‘Viomithram’ and ‘Saphalam Sahyanam’ for honouring the elderly from old age homes. The college functions as the nodal agency of The CHILDLINE India Foundation, since 2011. The students bring home-made food packets every Friday and are distributed to the inmates of Navajeevan, a home for the destitute under the banner of Snehannam. Through this unique practice, around 19000 food packets were given to the needy from 2016.
As part of inculcating social commitment and empathy, the College Union organized a hair donation campaign for Cancer patients. The college coordinates all flood relief activities under the banner, ‘Koodeyunde BCM’.Under the banner of BCM CARE (Covid Action for Revival and Empowerment), various outreach programmes were conducted for reviving the society.
Fostering entrepreneurial skills for Self- Reliance
The college has an active Entrepreneurship Club which functions under Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Centre (IEDC), an initiative of the Government of Kerala . The cell organized industrial visits, interaction with entrepreneurs, seminars, workshops, Skill development programmes, Entrepreneur idea competition, Workshop on business plan writing, Used book sale, Eco sale, SWAP shop, food stalls and online page for business (WOW ME).The students’ management of the college canteen and coffee shop serves as a prototype example for honing entrepreneurial skills. ‘Femme De Talent’ is an endeavour that enables students tointeract with successful entrepreneurs. The Food Tic incubation center provides a platform for formulation of innovative food products. Additional Skill Acquisition Programme, On the Job training programme, mushroom cultivation and apiculture, LED Certificate Course are initiatives of the college that help in equipping students with adequate skills to transform them into potential entrepreneurs.
Upholding gender equity for social inclusion
The college has proactively undertaken initiatives to shatter and unlearn gender stereotypes by embarking on programmes that are organized and executed by the students with the guidance of teachers. Gender neutral uniforms instituted in the campus give the right direction to bridge the gender gap. The college has consistently conducted annual blood donation camps and has organized the largest ever blood donation camp in Kerala run and participated in, exclusively by female students, a record that stands to this day. The college maintains a percussion (chenda) team composed entirely of students, another area traditionally dominated by men. Students embark on activities like demarcating pedestrian crossing zones and cleaning passenger buses during night.
Driving classes, self-defenses training, and martial arts such as ‘Kalaripayattu’ and ‘Karate’ were given to students to instil multi life skills among students. The college has conducted a number of gender sensitization programmes to provide an integrated and interdisciplinary approach to understand the social and cultural constructions of gender in our society. Students participated actively in covid related activities like mask distribution and prepared mini research projects and short films on various themes related to the pandemic. During the lockdown period, students worked hand in hand with the district administration to enter the details of migrant laborer’s in the Kottayam district.
Environmental Sustainability
The college inculcates environmental consciousness among students to ensure clean and healthy living through various environmental promotional activities. The organic farming initiative undertaken by the NSS unit of the college was recognized and awarded as ‘Best Practice’ by the Mahatma Gandhi University in 2015. The college conducted numerous activities to drastically cut on the use of plastic under the banner of “Parasthithikam,” a project of the Directorate of Environment and Climate Change, Government of Kerala. The scrap management initiative of the college encourages the process of eco- friendly waste disposal methods in the campus. Under the initiative of Swachh Bharat Mission, multifarious activities are carried out in the campus to campaign for good health, well-being, clean water, sanitation and clean energy. The college undertook several projects in collaboration with the Kerala Forest and Wildlife Department to conserve the mangrove ecosystems. The college promotes a zero-waste campus by encouraging students to follow the green protocol.
The institution thus focuses on creating multifaceted, socially committed, young women with skills and commitment and thereby contributes to nation-building for a peaceful and sustainable society.
