INSTITUTIONAL DISTINCTIVENESS

Institutional Distinctiveness

Title: Outreach programs

The outreach programs of St. Thomas college of arts and science aims to help, uplift, and support the students deprived of certain services and rights. It involves giving learning, social planning, health support, and other projects for their welfare.  

01. Cleanliness Drives

• The institution believes that cleanliness is the most important thing for both physical well-being and a healthy environment, and students should be the real ambassadors of this cleanliness. The institution took various measures, camps, and campaigns to create awareness among the public. The students also took initiative to clean up the surroundings.
• Around forty volunteers from our institution took part in removing trash from the beach, which will ensure to retain of the beauty of the coastline and also will help us to maintain a healthy marine ecosystem. The team was equipped with all the necessary cleaning tools like gloves, rakes and sacks.
• Clean Campus always promotes Hygiene, it improves hygiene levels on campus and also helps to reduce the spread of diseases, thus maintaining a clean college environment sets a good example to students. Volunteers took initiative to clean the campus, they went to all the classes and briefed about the importance of cleanliness of the campus. They gave awareness to the students not to throw paper plates, water bottles, paper cups, tissues, and many unwanted things on campus. Around sixty students volunteered for the program.
• Chennai is a city of extreme water-related calamities year after year with deadly floods during the rainy season and severe droughts during summer.  To ease the severity of the summer season, volunteers from our institution came up to clean a pond so to save water, as this will be a water resource then. Volunteers working more than three hours segregated plastic waste separately to dispose of it properly.

02. Health and Hygiene

• The institution organised eye check-up camps and the objective of this event was to spread awareness of eye disorders and eye ailments among the public. Students of our institution volunteered by issuing tokens among the public and for registration for eye check-up camps. The public who required eye care treatment were given the necessary treatment and medicines at the same camp.
• Covid -19 has affected the lifestyle of almost all the citizens of India, on the verge of another breakout, institutions decided and organised an awareness rally around Koyambedu to spread awareness about the importance of taking precautionary measures against COVID-19. Volunteers took initiative to make the public understand the importance of wearing a mask and also the importance of maintaining social distancing.

03. Camps

• The NSS unit and YRC jointly conducted a blood donation camp in our institution. Apart from organising a camp, volunteers also gave awareness about the importance of donating blood.  Many students from our institution took part and donated blood.
• The health check-up camp was set up and was organised by the institution in a village named Kandigai. Around fifty of the elderly and many children benefitted from this camp. Volunteers from our college helped them by distributing medicines and helping the needy.

04. Awareness Programs

• The institution took part in a “Plastic Free Awareness Campaign” called Walk for plastic to inform and create awareness in the local communities about the ill effects of Plastic waste pollution on the Environment and Human health. The aim is to increase public understanding and shape community perceptions of the dangers of plastic pollution and available solutions.
• Over forty students from our institution took part in a cycle rally to spread
• awareness among people to save the girl child and highlight the inequalities faced by the girl child in society. Students took out the rally from the college campus to nearby villages spreading the message of the importance of saving the girl child with placards and slogans.
• In the present global scenario, fast food has become part of our life. Fast food chains offer the convenience of meals that are ready-to-eat, not to mention the affordable prices of the food, but this fast foods and junk foods will increase the possibilities of diseases and disorders. Our students with placards and slogans created awareness among the public about the disadvantages of having junk foods.
• Our students have volunteered and given awareness about the consequences of global warming and visited an eco-farm to learn more about the environment and saplings. Around 30 students from our institution benefitted from this visit, and they created awareness about what they have learnt. 
• Traditional foods are those which are passed on through generations and are more hygienic in nature, but the present generation is not aware of those traditional foods and is behind in junk foods. To create awareness among the students, volunteers initiated an exhibition and they presented many varieties of food, food sources etc.

05. Societal concern

• Janitors are the people who work for society, and helping them with consideration is a huge thing to be done. Our students volunteered in helping them near our college campus by cleaning and segregating the waste in the surrounding.
• According to the government of India, it is mandatory to have an Aaadhar card and voter ID and is very difficult to make corrections when there is an error. Volunteers from our institution helped the needy to get the mistake corrected.
• S. Dinesh Kumar of BBA was appreciated for his humanitarian concern of returning the money (INR 20,000) that he found on the floor to its owner. This kind gesture of his was appreciated by the faculties and the Principal to motivate and inspire other institution students.

Concluding Remarks:

St. Thomas college of arts and science has emerged as a centre of excellence in arts and science through outreach programs and activities. Building purposive partnerships with the industry, bolstering its wherewithal continually and evolving innovative programmes consistent with changing times.