Dr Ambedkar Government Arts College, Vyasarpadi, Chennai, which is celebrating its Golden Jubilee. | Photo Credit: B. JOTHI RAMALINGAM
Celebrating five decades of higher education, Ambedkar Government Arts College in Vyasarpadi has been the learning hub for several first-generation graduates hailing from north Chennai and its environs. The college, which started with a single undergraduate course, has not only added newer courses over the years, but is also among the few public colleges in the country to offer a bachelor’s degree. Visual communication and let boys study nutrition and dietetics.
On the occasion of its golden jubilee, the management of the faculty is happy that the number of applications is increasing year by year. Today, the college offers 17 undergraduate courses, eight postgraduate programs and 11 research courses. It has 3500 students, most of them come from the northern city of Chennai and Tiruvallur and its surroundings.
According to higher education authorities, there was a demand in the 1960s for a higher education institution to cater to the needs of the children of north Chennai. Efforts were made in 1971 when the state government identified a piece of land south of the Madras-Calcutta National Highway as the site for the proposed college. The Government set up a fund-raising committee headed by the then Collector of Madras District. This committee organized charity matches during which movie stars waved the willow to raise funds. A government sanctioned amount of ₹ 5 lakh was mobilized and the first brick was laid on the clay soil on August 1, 1972.
Sumathi Rajagopal, principal of the college, said, “Most of our students are first-generation graduates. Over the years, the number of courses has increased. We have prepared many courses in a short time. It is the only government college in Chennai that offers B.Sc. in visual communications. We offer defense and strategic studies, nutrition and dietetics, and social work. We actually have guys studying nutrition and dietetics,” she said. The college organized employment for its students.
The college’s alumni are in the uniformed services, the higher judiciary, teaching, state police and private sector companies, authorities said.
PK Selvam, B.Sc. Mathematics Series 1992-1995, said the college opened up new opportunities for him. “I joined NCC and did athletics. I realized my abilities in college,” he said. Mr. Selvam, who heads a software development company, visited his alma mater in 2019 after 25 years and said an alumni association with nearly 250 members had been formed.