Women Empowerment – Our Holistic Mission

Managed by Ansari Charitable Trust, Ansar Women’s College, a self-financing college affiliated to the University of Calicut was established in 2002. The prime mission of this institution is to empower and enlighten women through academic excellence embedded with moral values to face challenges and thereby mould and lead successive generations. Being a women’s college with minority status, it ensures the economic and social development of its students and aims to empower them with better career opportunities. A profound understanding of the rural background and its cultural foundation has enabled this noble mission.

It has the chief distinction of being the only self-financing women’s college in the District with 19 years of yeomen service in the upliftment of women in general and the educationally backward Muslim women in particular, through modern good quality education.

The college follows a unique approach when dealing with women students who belong to communities where they are married early. A gnawing issue that is found to be predominant is the hindrances encountered by the girls in realising their higher education dreams. Economic, social and cultural factors play a regressive role, thus impeding their academic journey. The authorities and faculty members encourage the determination and interest of the married students to pursue their higher education. The total number of students studying in the college is currently over 1500 among which a vast majority are married and some even already young mothers. A daycare facility is provided for the weaning mothers, ensuring a healthy environment for both mother and child without affecting their academics. The pregnant students are given special considerations while allocating examination halls, providing them provision on the ground floor itself. Furthermore, the college counsellor and faculty are always ready to provide counselling or motivation to such students and their families.

Aiming to bring the marginalized girls to the mainstream breaking gender and class barriers, training in communication skills, computer and digital media literacy, orientation in financial literacy and marketing skills are given to our students. The Centre for Life Skill Education also extends its guidance to parents, faculty members and women in particular through its various multi-faceted initiatives. Prabaprasaram is a series of motivation sessions organized for the teaching faculty as the stress and anxiety levels teachers experience cannot be overlooked. The Institution facilitates social consciousness towards society through the Sthree Shakthi campaign to chart an ecosystem of excellence for women bridging responsibilities and commitment to fellow beings. Sthree Shakthi is a series of extension activities focusing on women in the neighbourhood, imparting tips for empowerment and growth. As a part of this, surveys are conducted among the women community to assess their health awareness and other living situations. To give them proper guidance regarding sexual and reproductive health, medical camps are conducted regularly.

Under the aegis of Kerala State Women Development Corporation Ltd., the Women Development Cell was established in the college in 2013. The objective of Women Cell is to intellectually enrich and uplift women students. The Cell has been working to safeguard women’s rights and safety and many programmes, guest talks by empowered women and activities are conducted and coordinated. It mainly focuses on enlightening the community about gender equity and the need for equivalent exposure to resources in all realms. The Cell recognizes that empowerment encompasses the process of increasing a woman’s sense of dignity, her decision-making capability, her access to opportunities and resources and her ability to effect change. The coordinators and volunteers of the Women Development Cell rightly assesses the advantages and disadvantages of the locality and comprehends the role it can play to enlighten the community about gender equity and to enrich the opportunities for the women in and around the institution.

The PG Department of English extended its wings of social commitment to the housewives and domestic helps in the locality to elaborate their entrepreneurial skills for the betterment of their livelihood through the Each One Teach One campaign. The student volunteers from the department had identified housewives/ domestic help in their neighbourhood who are untrained/unschooled and trained them in using basic social media tools/ platforms, taught them to create a google account or fb account. They were also taught to edit and upload simple videos on YouTube, create their own channel, Instagram page etc. Through the Career Guidance & Placement Cell, the institution cherishes the value of prioritizing the quality enhancement of the student outcome as we consider it as essential to ensure employability of students, through which empowerment is assured. In order to provide equal opportunities, Job Fairs and Career counselling sessions are regularly provided for the students by the Cell and it is indeed a proud moment to witness our students getting placed during their tenure here.

The Entrepreneurship Development Club initiates a number of programmes to inculcate the spirit of entrepreneurship among the students. Training and skill development workshops, industrial visits and talks with successful entrepreneurs including successful alumni entrepreneurs are arranged by the Club to provide motivation to the students.

A Research Promotion Cell is active on the campus, inculcating research culture and aptitude amongst the women students and teachers with an aim to empower them. Research Journals including contributions by students and faculty are published by various Departments.

Women’s educational achievements have positive ripple effects within the family and across generations. The exposures provided through programmes such as field trips, industrial visits, and internship programmes help in widening their horizon. The student union activities kindle the awareness of the franchise and its role in nation-building. The slogans of the green campus inspire the young environmentalists to disseminate the messages of preserving nature. Altogether the women empowerment mission in the college works with a thrust on knowledge, skills and self-confidence necessary to participate productively in the development process of the community on a local scale and globally on a larger platform. Hence the Institution assures the holistic development of the women students so as to support them to become universal citizens of tomorrow.