On July 28, Behala College was granted autonomous status by University Grants Commission , making it the first state-aided institution to receive autonomous status in Kolkata, having submitted its application for the same about a year ago.
“University of Calcutta is hereby pleased to confer the status of an autonomous college under this university in favour of Behala College...for a period of 10 years from the academic year 2025-26 to 2034-2035 as per clause 7.5 of the UGC,” stated the letter signed by registrar Debasis Das, that was addressed to the principal, Sharmila Mitra.
With its new autonomous status, the college is now free to run its own course curriculum, conducting academic programmes outside the purview of the parent university, it can conduct its own exams and can evaluate its students independently, all while being affiliated to the parent university.
“Academic autonomy gives space to the college in all aspects: for conducting academic programmes outside the purview of the parent university, for framing new courses for promoting excellence. It empowers students to take the lead in their learning to increase engagement, motivation and deeper understanding. They develop critical thinking skills and are better prepared for a complex, changing world. Placement becomes much more effective,” said Sharmila Mitra, principal of the co-ed college, as reported by The Hindu.
One of the most updated courses of the college is the drone pilot training. The principal said it was aligned with Defence Studies, a degree which was later transformed into a certificate course, which the college has been running for 25 years now.
“Our own faculty plus faculty from IIT take the class. We arrange internship programmes under the NEP. We have an R&D section in collaboration with a concern in Assam”, said the principal.
The college is set to launch postgraduate programmes in five disciplines — English, Cybersecurity and Digital Forensics, Geo-informatics, Applied Microbiology, and Data Science and Analytics — starting this August. It also plans to introduce a three-year undergraduate law programme, the principal said. According to sources, newspaper advertisements announcing the college’s new status and course offerings will be released shortly, The Hindu reported.
