JOIN USThey love to study in congenial surroundings
Founded in 1971 by Alhaj Adam Sait, Hasanath Women’s College is an institution that stands for ideals that seem to have lost their lustre in an otherwise highly competitive, result-oriented educational system.
“We take in the weakest students and strive to make them distinction holders through a combination of individual attention and mentoring,” says Prof Tazeer Ahmed who has been the principal for over ten years. “The college was started with the specific purpose of empowering women from the weaker sections of society. We have a majority of Muslim girls whose conservative parents are comfortable with the system we follow here. We also have a fairly high number of students from the backward classes and a small percentage in the general category. Our mission is to help those with really low marks achieve their goals, get an education and eventually a job,” he explains.
Discreetly located on Dickenson Road, the college is housed in a moderately sized group of buildings painted in cheerful colours. With a well-equipped library, computer lab, seminar halls and language labs the courses are held in bright airy classrooms.
The students mill around in groups between classes, hanging out near the canteen or sitting on the benches around the campus. They dress in a curious mix of veiled black burqas, salwar kameezes, formal blazers and trousers. The atmosphere is congenial and an easy sense of camaraderie prevails. “I finished my PUC at St Anne’s College. I joined Hasanath to do my Bachelor of Computer Applications. I found the individual attention here a very positive factor as the numbers are smaller. Besides academics there are facilities provided for Namaz which is very convenient,” says Suraiya Anjum, a second semester student.
Anitha Ravi Selvan studied in a government college but did not fare too well there. “I am a supplementary student and wanted to do my BSc. Other colleges would not even consider my application but here I was given the course of my choice that is CBZ. We are just three students in the section and we get individual attention. In fact, I have since moved from being an under-performer to a distinction holder,” she says proudly.
“We have a number of extracurricular activities related to sports and culture. We also have a strong cricket team we are proud of. Our canteen serves very reasonable meals for just Rs 5 in addition to snacks right through the day. The teachers are very approachable and even mentor students who have problems at home,” says Zohra Fathima, a BCA student.
“The travel and tourism course offered here is one of the most popular. Many of our graduating students are placed in top airlines as well as at the International Airport,” says Prof Tazeer Ahmed, adding, “next year we plan on introducing German as a language option. We will also be starting a contact programme on weekdays in which drop outs can come and enroll in and graduate. This is in collaboration with IGNOU.” Affordable and inclusive, with the emphasis on learning and not competition, Hasanath College fills a void in the educational system for those who most need it.