Situated at the junction of two important talukas of Goa viz. Sattari and Bicholim, Government College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Sanquelim, Goa, caters to the higher education needs of students of almost 100 villages and is blessed with the unique distinction of a healthy and delicate blend of the rural and the urban.
Established way back in 1988 with a modest student strength of around 300 and a handful of teachers, the College has grown by leaps and bounds. Thirty-three years down the lane, the College today is a hub of multifarious curricular and co-curricular activities with more than 100 teaching staff coupled with more than 100 support staff, security and house-keeping, and students-enrolment crossing 1600, including foreign students! The pristine beauty of the location is harmoniously blended with the additions of space, books, technology and man power to cater to the growing needs and demands of modern education. Considering the location and the purpose for which this college was originally set up, the efforts are constantly on to be in sync with modern trends in education. The campus is fully networked and has facilities for use of Information and Computer Technology in the teaching-learning process. The college has the State-of-the-Art Smart Classrooms, Virtual Studio, Digital Language Laboratory, Digital Economics-Commerce-Mathematics Laboratory. besides providing automated library and gymnasium facilities. The stress is on the attainment of all-round development of the physical, intellectual and moral faculties of the students through wide ranging co-curricular and extra-curricular activities. The AddOns in our system include-
❖ Personality Development Programmes
❖ On the Job Training, Internships and Placements
❖ Field Trips
❖ Ademocraticallyelected Students’ Council
❖ Freeships and Scholarships
❖ Awards and Prizes for academic excellence
❖ NSS
❖ NCC (for women)
❖ Red Ribbon Club (which aims at creating awareness about HIV and AIDS among students and society at large)
❖ Parents-Teachers Association (P. T.A)
❖ Higher Secondary-Societal Linkages
❖ Coaching Center for aspirants for j obs/P.G./Professional Courses
❖ Grievances Redressal facility
❖ Professional Counselling
❖ Computer and Internet facilities
❖ A variety of Clubs/ Associations /Cells organising competitions, awareness programmes, talks and interactions with eminent personalities from the respective fields.
The College offers bachelor’s degrees in Arts, Science and Commerce under Choice Based Credit System. The Arts section has eight departments: English, Hindi, Marathi, Konkani, Economics, History, Geography and Political Science. The Science section offers
courses in Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Zoology, Geology, Botany and Computer Science. B.Sc. in Geography is a new addition to the science courses offered in the college (likely to be introduced from the current academic year). The B.Voc. (Vocational Bachelor’s degree) course is in the offing. The Commerce Department, apart from dealing with compulsory papers, offers specialisations in Accounting, Cost Accounting and Business Management. Three Master’s degree programmes in Economics, Hindi and Mathematics have added additional value to this hub of education, which is also a recognised Research Center in Hindi and Economics.
The college has a qualified Counsellor who provides counselling services to students free of cost. The Mentoring System of the college takes care of the individual needs of the students in the college. Since the needs of society are changing and academic excellence alone is not enough, educated youth are under pressure to discover their potential/talents while pursuing their degree program itself. Hence, various certificate courses have been introduced; competitive activities and training programs are taken up from time to time. A variety of Clubs/ Associations organise different Co-Curricular and Extra-Curricular activities throughout the year. The alumni of the college are invited to interact with the students and professionals and experts visit the Campus to address the staff and students. The IQAD /IQAC of the college supervises the maintenance of quality in all the college activities and makes suitable suggestions for improvements.
A few of the National/State Level recognitions for the college include – The NAAC Accreditation with W. Grade (CGPA of 3.17 /4.00), ranking among the Top 200 Colleges in India by NIRF, ranking among the Top 200 Colleges in India by India Today Ranking. The college library was awarded the ‘Best Library Award’ by the Government of Goa in 2019 and ranked 9th in NLIST Online Electronics Services, Gujarat, MHRD, Government of India in 2020. I tis also registered for NOLI Club. The college has worked out MOUs (Memorandum of Understanding) with other institutes of higher education and agencies/departments for an enhanced teachinglearning experience. One of the proposals is to have Credit Transfers with eminent institutions like liT, Mumbai in select courses.
The Science departments have well equipped laboratories and lab-staff. The spacious library, with a seating capacity of200, houses more than 26000 books, 55 journals and 400 CDs. It is enriched withE-resources-N List, old question papers, project-reports and maps. The library provides book-bank facilities to economically backward students and is fully automated. The Library undertakes training students for Library Science for six months every year. It also provides the service of the Mobile Van Library from Central Library, Panjim, to our students, wherein they can borrow books of their choice. ‘Latitude’, the hall mark Research Journal of the college with the ISSN 2395- 2520, publishes research articles, reviews and popular readings by the staff of the college. Apart from an auditorium with a seating capacity of 400 people, the College has a separate Seminar Hall/Virtual Studio, Meeting Room, Conference Room and a Counselling Room. The Sports Department has a Gymkhana with facilities for indoor games along with a
well-equipped gymnasium. The work of developing the college ground and stadium and a hostel for international and domestic students is in full swing. The sports persons, NSS volunteers and NCC cadets of the College have excelled at both state and national level events and have brought laurels to the institution.
The College canteen is run by an independent contractor and can accommodate up to 300 people. The college bus with a driver and a cleaner. is used to give transport facilities to staff and students going for field/study trips, taking part in sports and extra- urricular activities outside the college. The by-gone academic year saw unexpected challenges in the field of education. The pandemic shattered the established fabric of the teaching-learning process. But there was the indomitable will of the students and the staff, not to yield, not to give-up. The teaching, learning and examinations went on smoothly on-line, as all the stakeholders put their hands to the wheel of the common goal. The difficulties still continue and our will to surmount them still soars high. This academic year we are better equipped to handle the situation even as we hope for the restoration of the off-line classes soon. At any cost, teaching-learning will not suffer. And that’s a promise!
We realise that in the modern world, education is no longer limited to lecturing in the confines of the four walls. It is the result of a healthy and harmonious blend and interaction of varied processes, technology and stake holders. Every step that we take reminds us of our Vision and every effort takes us nearer our Mission, and striving for excellence becomes a way of life …