Communicative English Programme

Sacred Heart College (Autonomous), Tirupattur is geographically located in Vellore District and is in a rural area. When it comes to education, students from rural areas face a number of challenges. Especially, at the tertiary level of education, English is identified as posing a great challenge to the rural Indian learners. It is against this background that the relevance and urgency of this best practice could be understood in its depth as majority of the students enrolled at Sacred Heart College have done their schooling in Tamil medium, that too in government run schools, and hence their exposure to English is to a very minimum standard. The Institution in recognizing the aforesaid need has setup a Communicative English Programme. It has helped students overcome their fear in speaking in English in front of their peers and teachers thus, building their self-confidence through various classroom and outdoor activities. A scientific study was conducted to evaluate the success of the programme and it was revealed that majority (65.4%) of the students stated that they were able to improve their English vocabulary and have developed their skills in narration. More than half (58.9%) of the respondents stated that the programme on ‘Communicative English’ was effective to their overall development in their proficiency of the language. It is noteworthy to mention the fact; that the programme has created a standard and a benchmark to enable its students to become efficient in English.

Seeding Hope Services - SHC

As it is already mentioned that the students of Sacred Heart College are from rural areas, there is also a significant need for counselling and guidance. Most of the students registered with SHC are first generation learners; and from a low socio economic profile. Many students have unhealthy parenting styles, alcoholic or abusive parents, disturbed study environment, dysfunctional family setup etc. Coming from such an environment, students need guidance in psychological and academic areas for which the counselling and mentoring services are beneficial. Students, who face age related/family/peer group issues, find it difficult to concentrate in academics; such students with the guidance of mentor and counsellor will be able to cope better in academics and personal life. A student's success lies in the health status of his/her physical and psychological well-being, which can be taken care through the process of counselling and mentoring. A scientific research was undertaken to study the effectiveness of Seeding Hope Services CC (Counselling Centre) and SHAPE (Sacred Heart Accompanying Programme Education) as one of the best practices of Sacred Heart College. The study revealed that a vast majority (67.6%) of respondents stated a high level of satisfaction with regard to the Counselling process carried out at Sacred Heart College. The study also clearly highlighted the fact that the above practice played a significant role in its outreach to the student community in rendering better guidance, influential motivation and effective problem solving strategies.