The Samstha stepped into the field of Higher Education by starting Siddhivinayak College of Arts and Commerce. Since then, the Samstha is on a progressive path and established higher education institutes in the field of Engineering, Architecture, MBA, Fashion Technology, Nursing, Information Technology, Laser Technology, Skill Development institutes such as Vocational Training, Mechatronics and so on.
The current availability of the medical facilities in Maharashtra and the problems faced, it is observed that there is still need of Medical College on priority basis. Many girls cannot take admission in the medical college due to high amount of fees charged and hence it is proposed to start a Medical College that will offer the medical education in reasonable rates to the girls and at the same time medical facility can be made available in the reasonable rates to the needy people and people in the nearby areas.
The Samstha has an experience to run the Nursing Colleges which will be useful to establish the medical college. The graduating and graduated students of Nursing College can also get internship / placements at the Medical College.
The school building at the Pune University campus is around 40 years old ground level structure situated near Law Department. Pune University authorities have requested to vacate the present premises and have allocated an alternative place within the campus through a MoU. The new school building needs to be constructed before vacating the present premises. The building plans and approval process is already initiated. The construction work can be started as soon as the financial provisions are made. A total construction expected is 30,000 sq.ft.
Geography lab helps the students to understand the subject better by observing 3-D models like, solar system, interior earth model, volcano model, earthquake model, rain gauge model, maps and globe. They will be able to memorize the subject easily. They will be able to fill up the maps easily at the time of examination. With the help of models teachers will be able to explain the topics in detail.
Learning of languages will become easy and interesting with the help of language lab. The students will be able to improve on pronunciation of words and vocabulary. The student will try to explore more in languages by this teaching methodology.
The mathematical concepts can be better explained with the help of mathematical models, charts and graphs. Maths lab increases individual participation of the students. The students can rethink and rework on the mathematical problems and their solution. This increases the interest and confidence of the students in mathematics.
Science lab equipment allows students to interact directly with the data gathered. They get a first-hand learning experience by performing various experiments on their own. It is also found that school science lab make teaching and learning easy both for the teachers, as well as for the students. There are several scientific theories and concepts that are difficult to explain directly from the books. Anatomy models, physics science kits, and chemistry science kits, etc. make the complex theories of science easy to understand.
Maharshi Karve Stree Shikshan Samstha’s Mahilashram Hostel runs a hostel for the girls referred by Child Welfare Committee. The girls referred by CWC are either orphan, socially insecure, having single parent, from draught affected areas, remote areas or are not being looked after by their parents. Such girls are referred to the Samstha for their education, accommodation and all round development. These girls are under total parenthood of the Samstha till the age of 18 years. Earlier these students were accommodated along with the other students of Mahilashram Hostel as the Samstha never intended to treat them different from regular students. Recently, as per the directives from Child Welfare Committee, it is now essential to accommodate these students in a separate hostel building that should be exclusively for CWC girls. At present these students are staying at Venubai Hostel which is hosted in an old structure.
The Samstha proposes to double the current capacity of 150 girls of the CWC Hostel by redeveloping the old hostel building and accommodate 300 girls in the hostel. The construction of this hostel will enhance the capacity and we can reach to more such needy girls either referred by CWC or girls who are orphaned. This project will be one more step ahead towards attaining our goal of empowerment of women through education.
The Tribal Residential School (Ashramshala) at Kamshet imparts quality education to the tribal girls and boys up to 7th standard and after 7th standard it is exclusively for girls. The residents of tribal area normally do not give importance to education especially for the girls. After completion of 10th Standard the girls go back to their homes and they are engaged in their household chores and the education they have received so far goes in vain. Hence, it is imperative to either engage these girls for higher education or train them with some skills.
It is proposed to start a Skill Development Center at Kamshet to start job oriented vocational courses. After completion of these vocational courses the girls will be able to acquire technical skills and will help them in getting employment in the surrounding area of Talegaon and Chakan. These girls in turn can become a major support for the tribal families and can become an inspiration for the girls in their vicinity.
The Nagpur campus of the Samstha has Engineering College, Nursing College, B.Ed. College and Hostel. There is heavy electricity consumption at the higher education colleges and the hostel. There is requirement of Solar Power Project of 200 KW. The girls come to Nagpur campus from Nagpur and tribal and remote areas like Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, etc. By installing this project, the expenditure on electricity will be reduced to a great extent resulting in reduction in the cost of education per student and the Samstha will be able to offer education at concessional rates to the needy students.
Karve Nagar Campus of the Samstha is of 26 acres and it includes its head office, a museum, old age home, pre-primary, primary, secondary schools and junior college, 5 hostel buildings, health club and 8 higher education colleges. In addition to these units there are also staff quarters of the MKSSS.
Out of the above mentioned units the units like, hostels and old age homes need 24 hours security and street lights throughout the night. Many times the students from higher education units also work late hours for the completion of their assignments and for cultural events. Hence, the street lights are essential for Karve Nagar Campus. The Samstha has to incur a sizeable amount of electricity. If the solar street lights are installed, it will reduce the electricity bill to a great extent and the Samstha will also be one step ahead towards its green campus as there will be a use of 100% renewable source of power energy. The amount thus saved can be utilized for the education expenses of the needy girls.
The Narhe campus of the Samstha has a hostel of 200 students’ capacity, Vision English Medium School and School Of Fashion Technology. There is a mess facility at hostel and canteen facility at School Of Fashion Technology. All these units need plenty of water for their daily usage. The water supply from Municipal Corporation is insufficient and the units have to get water through water tankers. The Samstha has to incur huge amount on water tankers. Through the project of Rainwater Harvesting, the bore wells will be recharged and it will satisfy the need of water for the units. Thus the Samstha can save the expenditure on water tankers.
The Nagpur campus of the Samstha has a hostel, Engineering College, B.Ed. College and Nursing College. Nagpur being a region of scarce rainfall, the Samstha has to depend on water tankers for day to day needs and there is a necessity to execute the project of rainwater harvesting to meet the demand of water.
The Karvenagar campus hosts schools, colleges, hostels, old age home. Around 10000 students and 900 staff members use the facilities made available in this campus. Many cultural programs, lecture series, seminars, workshops are organized throughout the year for the students and staff members. The students and staff members from other campuses are also invited for such events and there is a huge presence for the same. The present infrastructure each of these constituent units has their own seminar halls and lecture halls, 1or 2 each with the maximum capacity of 200 persons. There is a need to provide a large auditorium of the capacity of 750-1000 persons to conduct any extracurricular/ educational, cultural activities.
There is a need to develop a sports facility for the students at the above mentioned campuses. In today’s era of electronic gazettes such as mobile phones, tabs, etc. the development of sports facility will encourage the habit of playing in the open ground which in turn will develop the physical capacities of the students and will surely improve their physical well-being. The sports will contain the facilities such as athletics track, basketball court, volleyball court and so on. The students will be trained by professional coaches to compete at the national and international level in the sports in which the students wish to excel.
The Samstha also organizes interschool sports competition, “Urja” and intercollegiate sports competition “Damini” since last 5 years. Every year this competition is hosted by our units at different campuses. The sports ground facility is also needed to organize such competitions at a professional level.
Maharshi Karve started his home for widows and began his mission of women’s education in the Kutir with only 4 widows as his first inmates. This Kutir was constructed in the year 1900. Later on it was renovated in the year 1944 with a strong structure of stones with asbestos roofing and windows.
This Kutir is like a place of worship for everyone who is associated with the Samstha. All of us at MKSSS feel immense energy and positivity at Zopadi and we consider it as blessings of Maharshi Karve to take forward his vision and mission of Women’s Education. This Kutir is a witness to many milestones achieved by the Samstha over the period of 125 years. The Kutir is declared as “Heritage Building” by the Pune Municipal Corporation to acknowledge the efforts of Maharshi Karve for women’s education.
The Kutir is situated at the core of the Samstha’s Karvenagar Campus and hence along with rehabilitation, there is also need of beautification of the surroundings of the Kutir. This structure is now 76 years old and certainly needs renovation to strengthen and preserve it for the years to come.