Khalsa College: The Canadian Connection
They have a good faculty and a vibrant bunch of students - and that's what Khalsa College is all about, says a second year student of BA (English) honours. Most of the students we spoke to here found the involvement between teachers and students stimulating. This kind of camaraderie is not witnessed in other colleges, they say.
What the students are also elated about is the recent tie-up the college has had with Fraser Valley University, in Vancouver, Canada. This will enable them to spend two semesters after graduation and get a Bachelor's degree from the Canadian varsity. All that the Indian students will have to do is pay what is charged as ‘domestic fee in Canada' (and not exorbitant amount international students have to pay). They can even take a six-month break between the two semesters to earn some money to take care of the tuition fee amounting to around Canadian $12,000.
Also, in its quest to increase its offerings, Khalsa will soon launch short-term vocational courses in fashion technology, event management and auto management. "Students won't need to travel to Canada for these short-term courses. They will get the certification from Fraser Valley. We are in talks with an auto major in India to help set up a workshop in Delhi for the same purpose, but it will not be on the campus," informs Dr Jaswinder Singh, principal, SGTB Khalsa College.
Famous for: Excellence in sports. Five of its alumni are Arjuna award winners. It is doing reasonably well in academics too.
This year, the fourth ranker of university in BA English, Satyendra Singh, is a Khalsa student. Out of first eight university toppers in the BBE programme, seven of them are from Khalsa College.
Programmes: BA (Honours) in English/ Hindi/ Punjabi/ economics/ history/ political science/ business economics; BCom (honours); BSC (honours) in botany/ chemistry/ electronics/ maths/ physics/ zoology; BSc in physical sciences/ life sciences/ computer science; BA programme; BCom programme. The college also offers short-term courses in forensic science (one year diploma); web journalism (three month certificate) and sports economics and marketing (three-month certificate).
Extra-curricular: There are a number of interesting societies here, including Ankur - for drama; Dhwani - for music; DADS - for debates and discussions; the English literary society, Hindi Sahitya Sabha, and Zenith - the choreography team, among others. A divinity society, Anhad, too attracts a number of members and organises functions and seminars on the life and works of Sikh gurus and comparative religion studies.
Infrastructure: The college is known for its auditorium and sports facilities. The air-conditioned auditorium, currently under renovation, can seat 600 people. Several cultural and academic activities are organized here.
The library has more than 1.40 lakh books and 15,000 manuscripts and other material on history, religion and politics, says the college admission booklet.
The college has spacious playgrounds for hockey, cricket, football and basketball. In 2007, a lawn tennis court was built at a cost of nearly Rs 27 lakh.
A hostel for female students will also be coming up shortly.
Found on campus: "Faculty and studies are excellent. The teachers are willing to teach even when the DUTA strike was on (September 8). My cousin who graduated from Khalsa a few years ago suggested that I study," says Bharat, a final year student of BA (political science).
Author: Vimal Chander Joshi (HT Horizons)
Date: 28th September, 2010
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