Florine Roche
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru

Mangaluru, Mar 9: There are golden moments of enormous importance and value in the lives of individuals or institutions. They are golden because people will not forget them for the sheer impact of those moments in their lives and they will cherish that experience forever. St Aloysius Evening College which is going through a golden period (1966-2016) of its existence, has given many golden moments to cherish to the innumerable students who studied in this college during the evening hours. In the last 50 years this college has been the beacon of hope for all those who had the urge and appetite to study but could not do so due to multifarious reasons and circumstances. This is the golden moment not only for the institution but also for more than 25,000 students of this evening college who have been the beneficiaries of the largesse, compassion and visionary approach of the Jesuit priests who started the college half a century ago.

For those students and general public who could not continue regular college education due to the compulsion to work to make both ends meet or those students who could not sail through SSLC or PUC for various reasons including lack of guidance and having failed to realise the value of education at that age, this college proved to be a godsend opportunity. On hindsight, it must acknowledged that without this college there would not have been many golden moments in the lives of thousands of those students who passed out from the portals of this esteemed educational institution. Credit goes to this evening college, the first in undivided Dakshina Kannada district, for heralding an educational revolution of sort and for giving an opportunity for the poor, underprivileged and the unfortunate to gain knowledge and power through education through this college. It is really a matter of pride to this college that some of the alumni of the college have risen to high positions of power by their hard work and many have been able to streamline their faltering career graphs after graduating from here.

Having realised that education has the power and capacity to alter the lives of people there was a persistent demand from the students to start an evening college in Mangalore especially by the working people who also wanted study simultaneously. The Jesuit priests, who are known for their immense contribution to education through their established and prestigious institution St Aloysius College, responded favourably.

This favourable response paved the way for starting the Evening College in 1966 after obtaining permission from Mysore University. It was the late Fr Mathew Lewis, the then Rector of St Aloysius College who first dreamt of starting an Evening College in Mangalore and he has been rightly credited as its founder. His mission was accomplished by the first Principal of the Evening College Fr Stany Vaz. He strived hard to make that dream of Fr Mathew a grand reality thus putting a sturdy foundation towards achieving that goal.

Fr Stany Vaz (first principal) and Fr Hilary Pereira (second principal)

Fr Denzil Lobo (rector) and Fr Michael John (administrator)

However, the credit for strengthening that foundation and carrying on the onerous responsibility with greater vigour and with rationale goes to late Fr Hilary Pereira, the second Principal of the college, who passed away last year at the age of 91. He can be rightly called as the real architect of the Evening College. Under his decade long stewardship (1968-78) the Evening College made tremendous strides to emerge as an institution on par with the regular colleges. Since then the College has moved on the footprints of these farsighted leaders and it is now celebrating its golden jubilee year in style and with pride.

Overcoming Hurdles

In 1966 only the lucky 120 students (only men) got admission in the first year out of the 200 applicants. Initially the permission was only for Arts and Commerce faculties at pre-university level and a year later degree courses were also introduced. In the same year the college was thrown open to women also.

But there were other hiccups that called for urgent attention. Initially, due to the difficulties in running BA and BCom classes simultaneously, the admission to the first year BA and BCom was offered only in alternate years as a policy matter. However, responding to pressure from students this practice was done away with in 1971 and that was the last major hurdle the college faced in terms of admission of students.

Apart from providing an opportunity for the poor and the less privileged students, this Evening College has proved to be an ideal podium of education to a large number of first generation learners. That is the greatest value addition of this college to the society in general and to the families of this new generation learners in particular.

Credit also goes to the students and the general public who availed the opportunity offered to them by the college. A sizeable chunk of the evening college students work during the day and attend college in the late evening hours. Hurdles like lack of time to complete the portion and absence of a few other co-curricular activities which are an inherent part of a regular college, did not come in the way of the performance of the students of the evening college. Their determination, fortitude and go-getting attitude have played a pivotal role in the impressive academic records the college has been able to achieve. It goes to the credit of this institution that the students of the evening college are never made to feel they miss something that a regular college has to offer. The students of the college have all the activities of a regular college such as hostel facility, scholarships, concession for poor students, Students union, Alumni Association, canteen facility, computerised library, personality development clubs, canteen facility, sports day, college day - to name just a few.

Apart from focus on academic performance students have been given ample opportunities develop their personality and skills through participation in co-curricular and extracurricular activities likes sports and games, cultural activities, inter-college and intra-college competitions and seminars.

Moving with the time

Principals who succeeded Fr Hilary Pereira after his transfer, followed in his footsteps, keeping abreast of the latest developments in the field of higher education and responding to the academic needs of students by introducing new courses from time to time that add to the career prospects of students.

Principal Dr Manohar V Serrao

Dr Donald Lobo (secretary, golden jubilee celebration committee)

Inauguration of golden jubilee year

Souvenir to be released

The combination of the outstanding efforts of the administration, the teaching and non teaching staff and the students have borne sweet fruits as is evident from the impressive academic records of the college.

The highly qualified, experienced and dedicated college faculty has been instrumental in keeping the students focused and providing quality education. A set of new generation of highly qualified and focused academic faculty with its rich experience and expertise has added strength and more respectability to the evening college, making it a leader unsurpassed. The college also avails the services of professionals from various fields as visiting faculty. In the last few years apart from working youngsters and general public, a large number of students aspiring to become CA’s, join the evening college even as they pursue their professional degree. Their diligent approach to academics has a telling academic impact on the students of the college in general. This year there are about 700 students studying BA, B Com, BBM, M Com and other diploma courses.

In addition to offering BA, BCom and BBM St Aloysius Evening College offers diploma and certificate course on diverse topics such as Investment Management, Labour Laws, Photography, Real Estate Laws, Mathematics of Investment, Basic and Advanced Communication Skills, Insurance Management and Income Tax. The college added another feather in its crowning glory when it introduced Post Graduate M. Com course in 2013-14. The first batch of MCom was out in 2015 recording 100% pass rate. That the college has been granted reaccreditation by NAAC with a B Grade stands as a testimony to the quality of education it imparts.

Fifty years is no doubt a milestone in the history of St Aloysius Evening College. The College has decided to mark this occasion as a year-long golden jubilee celebration. The celebration was kicked off on July 11, 2015 with a formal inauguration function and there were activities round the year. It will culminate in the grand finale scheduled for March 12 in which Higher Education Minister of Government of Karnataka T B Jayachandra will be the chief guest.

Completing 50 years is cause for celebration but not for complacency. The college will have to strive harder to achieve greater heights in the years to come. Let us hope it will continue to be the right forum for those students and public who want to arm themselves with higher education and brighter their lives and the society. Needless to say St Aloysius Evening College is a treasure for all those who value education and it will continue to be our proud possession. I am proud to say I am an alumni of this Evening College.