Vocational courses of CVS sets it apart from others

By Surveshwar Sarvesh

Dr. Inder Jeet Dagar (M.Com., PGDCA, PGDBA, M.Phil, FICWA, Ph.D.) has been at the helm of affairs as the Principal of the prestigious College of Vocational Studies (CVS) since December’ 2005.  He has played a sterling role all these years in providing efficient all round academic and administrative leadership. The College of Vocational Studies came into existence in the golden jubilee year of the University of Delhi in 1972. From running and managing its day to day functions out of a small building in north Delhi, the college has come a long way in the present day scenario.

 

In a tete a tete with journalist Surveshwar Sarvesh (SS), Dr. Inder Jeet Dagar (IJD), Principal College of Vocational Studies shared some unique aspects and accomplishments of his college along with details about the most awaited annual college fest.

SS: Please introduce College of Vocational Studies by throwing some light on its background, key focus areas and activities?

IJD: College of Vocational Studies (CVS) came into existence in 1972, and happens to be the only college which has been set up directly by the Delhi University. CVS was set up in 1972 in the Golden Jubilee year of the Delhi University. The key objective was to initiate a novel experiment in the vocational courses at the undergraduate level for students. Feel pleased to share that the experiment has been very successful so far. In due course of time, we have added new courses both in the field of Vocational field as well as in other fields. Thus, we have a total of 7 vocational courses in B.A. (Vocational Studies category today which are namely ‘Human Resource Management (HRM)’, ‘Material Management (MM)’, ‘Office Management and Secretarial Practice (OMSP)’, Tourism Management’, ‘Management and Marketing of Insurance (MMI)’, and Entrepreneurship, Small and Medium Enterprises (SME)’, Marketing Management and Retail Business (MMRB). Besides the college offers 5 regular Honours Courses like B.Com (Hons.), B.A. (Hons.) Economics, B.A. (Hons.) History, B.A. (Hons.) Business Economics, B.Sc. (Hons.) Computer Science, B.A. (Hons.) English. This means that out of the 12 running courses, 7 are vocational while 5 are Honours Courses. Every year, young curious and passionate minds enter the College for pursuing the degree course of their choice. At the end of their course, they leave as young adults who are all geared to face the tough challenges of life. At CVS, it has been our sincere endeavor to help bring the best out of our students. For achieving our mission, we have diligently strived to blend a healthy academic ambience with myriad co-curricular activities. These activities range from NCC to NSS, sports, dance, music, writing and so on. Being a firm believer of holistic education, I lay colossal emphasis on all round development of a student, and ensure that he or she inherits and integrates the best of human values and cultural traditions, besides being good with academics. We look forward to a meaningful interaction and association of learners and teachers.

 

SS: Share details of the college infrastructure?

IJD: The College today has two air-conditioned, fully equipped computer labs, committee room, conference room, well stocked air-conditioned library and a revamped 5 acres playground. The College campus is Wi-Fi enabled and we have got projectors in all the 50 class rooms of the college. The whole campus is under electronic surveillance. The construction of a new building complex which has recently been completed will help provide more facilities to the students and staff.

SS: What really makes CVS stand apart from other higher educational institutes?

IJD: It takes pride to state that the USP of CVS are its vocational courses. CVS happens to be the only college which has been offering BA Vocational Studies courses in 7 streams since 1972. Our college primarily stands apart as it has maintained its distinctiveness till date. The Vocational courses are offered at the undergraduate level and are three year degree courses. While certificate and diploma courses in vocational fields are offered in other institutions too, we happen to be the only college where degree is offered in the B.A. (Vocational Studies courses). Indubitably, this is the unique point of our college viz a viz courses. We firmly believe that Class room teaching learning and teaching has to be supplemented and complemented by the extracurricular development of the student. Our focus is on imparting Holistic education to students which means an amalgamation of the bookish knowledge along with a strong emphasis on character building, ethical values, leadership qualities, and personality development. Since the youth brigade has a crucial role to play in the country, our role as educators is critical since it is all part of ‘Nation Building’. We train young minds for working cohesively towards raising their standards to become responsible citizens, build a strong value system, and inculcate virtues which would channelize all their latent energies towards the right ends. We give due importance to Character Development since it is the real need of the hour. By involving students in engaging and stimulating activities like yoga and meditation, we help create a robust platform for a healthy mind. A healthy mind means good thoughts which in turn pave the way for positivity and sensitivity towards other society members.

SS: Elucidate the basic difference between conventional courses and vocational courses?

IJD: The conventional courses are basically concept based courses, based on bookish knowledge sans any skill components. Since there are no projects or internship, students acquire only generalized knowledge, and no specific knowledge. In stark contrast, when you talk about B.A. (Vocational Courses), these are specialized skill oriented courses. A classic instance being in the field of tourism where there is practical component when we provide students the skills to launch their tourist agency, along with the skills to run their ticketing process. In all our courses, there is project work which entails student to visit the industry, write a project, and doing their internship alongside. Thus instead of getting generalized knowledge, the students get an opportunity to acquire specialized knowledge of a particular field. For instance when a student is enrolled in B.A. Human Resource Management (BAHRM), he or she acquires specialized knowledge in the field of Human Resource Management. As far as the distinction between B.A. Progamme and B.A. Vocational programme goes, let me cite a small example. A student just gets to study the normal papers with no specialization when enrolled in a B.A Programme. On the other hand, when a student is enrolled in a course like ‘Management and Marketing of Insurance’, our college provides knowledge of insurance along with how insurance works. When it comes to placement in an Insurance company, quite naturally, the Insurance companies will give preference to our students over those with a degree in B.A Programme, B.Com, or B.Com (H) since the latter lacks the quintessential knowledge of the Insurance sector. On the contrary, those who have done a proper Insurance course from CVS surely stand a better chance as they are well versed with the finer nuances of the Insurance sector. We offer placement oriented courses too, and this is our strong point. The total strength of our college is over 2500 now.

 

SS: What is so special about your cultural society, and the other societies?

IJD: Our Fashion Society is known as ‘Manthan’ while our Cultural Society is named ‘Reverie’. Both these societies are extremely vibrant here, and there is great harmony and synergy between the societies. When it comes to extracurricular activities, student’s enthusiasm knows no bounds. We have societies for commerce, economics, and Finance besides having an Investment cell and a management society. Implying that we have a society for almost each and every type of extracurricular activity and subject, all managed by the students. The role of the teachers is that of a ‘mentor’, but by and large, passive. The key role is played by the students and I have no qualms in stating that. We have a placement cell comprising 12 student coordinators for 12 different courses whose role is to keep a tab on the placement related activities. Albeit we have a placement officer also, the major work is taken care by the students themselves. Our results are extremely pleasing as there have been no failures, and just some cases re-appearances for students. Our college organises a three days fest titled ‘Tattva’ every year which has gained lot of popularity with passage of time. Different activities are organised on all the 3 different days, and other colleges have been taking a keen participation in this fest. Again students play a pivotal role in ensuring the all round success and popularity of this fest.