sadakathdulla appa college, tirunelveli, tamilnadu,india.

History

Ever since the British period the twin towns of Tirunelveli and Palayamkottai, intersected by the perennial Tamiraparani River, have been great centres of learning. The Tirunelveli district has a sizeable Muslim population which felt the need for an institution of higher education. Due to the dedicated and sincere efforts of the Muslim elite, a college of arts and sciences, named after the noted Arabic scholar Sadakathullah Appa, was started in 1971.

The college is located on a 40-acre sprawling campus. It was first affiliated to the Madurai Kamaraj University for twenty years. With the birth of the Manonmaniam Sundaranar University in 1990, the college was affiliated to it later. It is run by SADAKATHULLAH APPA EDUCATIONAL SOCIETY.

Sadakathullah Appa College is the fifth star to rise in the academic sky of Palayamkottai in 1971. The college is situated on the high-way between Tirunelveli and Tuticorin near the District court of Tirunelveli. The college is run by the SADAKATHULLAH APPA EDUCATIONAL SOCIETY. The college celebrated its Silver Jubilee in March 1999.The college has been accredited with B+ Grade by the NAAC.The Institutional score is 75%. It is also an ISO 9001:2000 Certified Institution from the year 2004. The academic year 2007-2008 is a milestone in the history of the college in that the institution has become autonomous. Shift System is followed to offer more job-oriented courses for the benefit of the students. The college implements Choice - Based Credit System from 2008-2009.

The rain - bearing winds of Sadakathullah Appa College has scattered hundreds of students in prominent positions all over the world.

The College is offering Ph.D., in English under IGNOU Convergence Programme.The Research Programmes offered are M.Phil., in History and M.Phil., in Commerce. The college offers U.G. courses in History, English Literature, Commerce, Business Administration, Mathematics, Advanced Zoology and Bio-Technology, Chemistry, Physics, Computer Science, Microbiology , B.Com. with Computer Applications and BCA.

The Post-graduate Courses offered are M.A. History, M.A. English, M.Com, M.Sc Mathematics, M.Sc., Industrial Microbiology and P.G. Diploma in Computer Application. It also offers Certificate Courses in Arabic, Translation Proficiency, Tamil Journalism, Tourism Management, and Diploma Courses in Islamic Theology, Translation Proficiency and Tamil Journalism.

The college is proud to possess a diligent and seasoned team of staff who have put it on the springboards of progress and success. There are 59 teachers and 25 Non-Teaching staff in the aided category, and 34 teachers and 9 non-teaching staff paid by the Management. Currently 1343 students are studying in the college of whom 744 are girls.

The college volunteered for assessment by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), Bangalore. Subsequently, the college was accredited on 29 th April 2003 with B+ Grade. To improve the administration in the college, it was decided to go in for ISO 9001: 2000 certifications. On 9 th November, 2004 the college was declared by the British Standard Institution as an ISO 9001:2000 certified institution. Dr. A. Nihamathullah is the Coordinator for the Internal Quality Asurance Cell and the ISO programme.

The college has been progressing steadily. The academic year 2007-2008 is a memorable one in the eventful history of Sadakathullah Appa College in that the college has become autonomous. The autonomous programmes were inaugurated by Dr.Cynthia Pandian, former Vice-Chancellor of the Manonmaniam Sundaranar University at a function organized on 11.07.07.

Another notable feature is the growing number of endowments sponsored by liberal donors. The total number of endowments is 82. The income from the endowments is spent on scholarships, prizes and special lectures. The college has taken every effort to get the students various scholarships. A total of nearly Rs.11. Lakhs has been disbursed as scholarships in 2008.

The Islamic Study Circle too gives scholarships from the Zakat Fund collected from the staff. The Alumni Association of our college has been a source of support to the growth of the college. The Dubai Chapter of our Alumni has come forward to bear the educational expenses of some poor students. The Alumni Association is also taking efforts to get an auditorium constructed at the cost of Rupees 50 Lakhs.

The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) Study Centre has been functioning at our college since 2007. Our college is also a centre for the conduct of the M.S.University Distance Education Courses.

Considering the importance of communicative skills, coaching classes in English are conducted on all saturdays between 10 a.m. and 12 noon. Thiru. S. Mohamed Haneef is the Course Director for this programme.

A Computerized Language Laboratory with 21 computer terminals is set up. An audiovisual hall is being used to teach students English pronunciation and train the students in listening to English programmes.

Students need to make aware of their social commitments and national obligations. For this, there are six National Service Scheme units in our college. The N.S.S. Programme Officers of our college have been working as a team with dedication.

With a view to inculating in students the importance of values, Moral Instruction Classes for Non-Muslim students and Deeniyat Classes for Muslim students are conducted on all wednesdays.

Our college N.C.C. Unit has 104 cadets with 33% reservation for girl extent. It gives free education to thirteen students who are sportsmen. Five of our college students were inducted into the M.S.University kho-kho team. Two students were selected for the M.S. University Volleyball team.

The Youth Welfare Department, under the able guidance of Thiru. S.Mahadevan trains and motivates the students to take part in various competitions. Many of our students were winners in various competitions conducted in various colleges in Tamil Nadu. Recently, our college students won the second prize in a state level Drama Competition conducted by 'Mangayar Malar' Weekly at chennai.

The placement Cell is functioning dynamically. A total of 16 students have been selected this year for placements in various companies such as TCS, Sathyam, Hexaware, ICICI Prudential, Sutherland and Sterlite. The college runs hostels for boys and girls on the campus. The Wavoo Shahul Hameed Hostel for Boys accommodates 219 students. The Girl's Hostel has strength of 240 girls. To accommodate more number of girls, Maulana Azad Foundation has sanctioned Rs.30,00,000/- (Rs. Thirty Lakhs) for this purpose.

The institution is growing everyday. The College has adopted Shift System from the academic year 2007-08. The introduction of the shift system is helpful to the students to join other career oriented programmes conducted at our college. The classes for the students admitted in the Aided Courses commence at 8.00 A.M. and end at 1.00 P.M.

Self-Finance Courses and other add-on courses are taught between 1.10 P.M. and 6.10 P.M. Prof Shahul Hameed, former head of commerce is the Director for self-supporting courses. The college is now introducing new, learner-centred syllabi for all the courses to implement Choice- Based Credit System which is a salient feature of autonomous colleges. We hope the institution would blossom soon as SADAKATHULLAH APPA UNIVERSITY.