Introduction

Young adults today are under tremendous pressure in order to carve out a niche for survival in life. They are subjected to fierce competitions with peers not only in academics, but also in job hunting and establishing careers. It has long been felt that besides prescribed curricula, our students must be given additional training in relevant aspects so designed to widen their outlook and perspectives.

Accordingly, a student-centric module on ‘Personality Development Programme (PDP)’ is innovated to train our students, keeping in mind that the programme should be simple to manage, but rich in content and values. The goals are to -

1. develop life-skills and enhance potential of students
2. enrich mind-sets of students towards establishing their own career

The Context

1. Nowadays, the fresh graduate is caught in a whirlwind of the need for innovative ability, efficiency, and speedy execution of assigned tasks. Multi-tasking and quality life-skills are catchwords for young professionals in order to survive.
2. Contents of the prescribed UG curricula are inadequate for gaining the necessary life-skills to confront modern-day demands, especially which is especially true for our students because an overwhelming majority of them hail from remote villages.
3. Target group: PDP has been innovated and practised in this institution to impart necessary training in life skills to all outgoing students.

Design of the Course: The course is designed to cover various soft skills, communication and interviews skills, basics of IT, travel tips, first-aid techniques, etiquettes, personal grooming, entrepreneurship, resume writing & career prospects, etc. The Practice is an outcome of our quest to prepare students to face the future with poise and confidence as they leave the College.

The Programme is a condensed form of ‘Finishing School’ designed and executed for short durations because most parents eagerly await the home-coming of sons & daughters for additional helping hands in the family.

Resource Persons& Collaboration: Resource Persons were engaged from the teaching Faculty of the College as well as local experts who are well-known in their professions. The College collaborated with qualified Medical Doctors of Aizawl Civil Hospital as well as faculty from Regional Institute of Paramedical and Nursing Sciences (RIPANS), Aizawl for teaching the basics of First Aid skills.

Uniqueness of PD Programme:

Most students from remote villages of Mizoram lack exposure to corporate modern day demands and are unaware of the nature and fierceness of competition for survival. The contents of the Programme are designed to augment and provide the following information on life-skills -

1. Computer Basics - for the less unfortunate who do not have the opportunity of owning& learning computer basics
2. Travels & Studying Abroad- eye-opener on ticketing & travel tips for those who do not have the privilege nor opportunity of travelling outside the State
3. Spoken Hindi/ English – to arouse interest and provide pointers on common errors in spoken communications
4. Communication & Interview Skills – for future job interviews
5. Life Skills – First aid; Manners & etiquettes; Mental health & coping with depressions; Personal grooming & hygiene

Constraints:

1. Since PD Programmes are scheduled for post-final semester exams, those students from middle-class & poorer backgrounds are reluctant to participate because most parents look forward to having extra helping hands in their family affairs.
2. For those staying in rented houses, it means paying extra for rental and food.

Evidence of Success

a) The programmes always met with astounding responses from participants. When it was first launched, most students eager to enjoy post-exam breaks and yearning to return to their respective hometowns, reluctantly come for the course. However, at the end of the Programme, suggestions for longer duration and wider topic coverage always featured in the Feedback/ Evaluation sheets.

b) Since its launch, (approx. 96%) have actively participated and benefitted from the Course.

c) More than 90% of the topics were found to be relevant. The Course provided students with necessary facilities and tools to face challenges that pertain to the lifestyles and scenario faced by young adults in today’s world.

d) The performance against targets and benchmarks, and the reviews gave strong indication that the Institutional Best Practice on “Personal Development” course can be successfully integrated in UG Colleges as an Add-on Course because it is innovative, flexible and student-centric.