Tiiruchirapalli -- the educational center of Tamil Nadu
Tiruchirapalli is the fourth largest city in Tamil Nadu, with a population of around twelve hundred thousand people. It has an International Airport, with flights to Malaysia, Singapore and Dubai.
Tiruchirapalli is situated right in the center of Tamil Nadu, and is very well connected to other cities
in Tamil Nadu, and there are trains to Mumbai, Kolkatta and destinations to Kerala as well.
One interesting aspect of this town is that it houses two institutes of National importance. The
first is the prestigious National Institute of Technology, reputed to be the best NIT in India, with a
superb record of placement, and is also the number one institute from outside of the IITs for
exporting the maximum number of students for higher studies to UK, USA and Europe, for
higher education in engineering. The Indian Institute of Management, Tiiruchirapalli, is less
than ten years old, but is already making waves in Management education.
It also has one another institute that is consistently ranked among the best thirty institutes of
management in India, called the Bharadidasan Institute of Management. This attracts students from al over India.
Tiruchirapalii is one of the best places in Tamil Nadu, for students. There are many small hotels that sell food at very cheap rates. There are so many hostels of various kinds that cater to the needs of students, both boys and girls.
One of the most important points to be noted is that Tiruchirapalli also has a good State University, which is recognized by the UGC, called the Bharadidasan University. Under this University, there are many good colleges offering courses in Arts, Science and Commerce. For example, the St.Joseph's College, which is over one hundred and fifty years old, is an autonomous college, which frames its own syllabus. It has a superb standard of education.
There is another college called the Seethalakshmi Ramaswamy college for women, which is also reputed to be one of the best in Tamil Nadu,for arts and science courses. There are other colleges like the Bishop Heber College, the Kavery college and the Holy Cross College. Over the years, these colleges have also started offering courses at the undergraduate level in bio-technology, bio-informatics and so on.
The Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration, the BBA, is also a very famous course offered in literally over twenty colleges in this town. The standard is far better when compared to those in other South Indian states and miles ahead of the North Indian colleges.
A very unique feature of Tiruchirapalli is that it blends the tradition with the modern way of living. The old houses have made way for apartments and flats and the city keeps on expanding to over fifteen kilometers on all the four sides. There is the superb Cauvery river which flows through the town.
When it rains heavily, it is a big treat to watch.. The Cauvery has seen big floods in the past, but in the recent past, there has not been much of a rain.
Tiruchirapalli is the seat of the biggest units of the giant Public Sector Undertaking called the Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, BHEL, for short.
Very sparingly, students from the Arts and Science Colleges are allowed to do their internship in this organization, but of late, a small number of Information Technology companies have come to the city. It is really a matter of concern, that even with as many as thirty good colleges of engineering in and around the city, there is not a very significant growth of the IT industry. A very few Business Process Outsourcing units have come up, that is not much, even by the most optimistic standards.
One of the reasons is the rather poor standard of spoken English in most of the colleges. The students have all the creativity, the will power and the urge to learn. However, because they come from families where the where the English is not spoken much, and from environs in their social circle where they do not speak the language, the standard of English spoken is not up to the required levels, particularly when compared to world-class colleges like the Loyola College, Chennai, which gets ranked among the best three in India, and is the best in India, for commerce at the undergraduate level.
However, in science subjects, for example, the standards are very high, and the students do get to have a very good first hand experience of what the high quality of in-depth education is all about. Of late, even quite a number of African countries are sending their students to study in Tiruchirapalli colleges, and a fair number of North Indian students have also started flowing in.
Tiruchirapalli would do well to sell itself as a brand. There is not much of a brand building and the local associations of business and commerce are not very active either. The Tamil Nadu Government itself has to wake up and do something to market Tiruchirapalli's high standard of education at the undergraduate level.
It should be noted that Tiruchirapalli is one of the safest places for women. The excellent network of local town buses connects all parts of the city and, of late, the opening up of the air traffic has brought in substantial increase in tourist traffic to the town, which is very famous for its temples.
Tiruchirapalli is situated right in the center of the State of Tamil Nadu, and it has a superb connectivity to every other part of the State and even neighboring States. There are any number of buses right up to 11PM in the night to every nook and corner of the State. In any case, no one in Tamil Nadu, waits for direct buses. One can always hop around and find superb connecting buses as well.
Hence, if a research scholar wants to go to the Central University of Tamil Nadu, at Tiruvarur, which is a district headquarters town, some fifty kilometers from Tanjore, all he needs to do is to hop into a bus that goes to Tanjore, from Tiuchirapalli. The buses ply every second minute to Tanjore. From Tanjore, there are a huge number of buses to Tiruvarur.
So, a hearty welcome to Tiruchirapalli and its good number of colleges for good quality higher education. Those from other States can source the internet for further accurate information, and decide on courses to study. In the years to come, one can be very sure that Tiruchirapalli will become a jewel in the crown of the State of Tamil Nadu, for good education at the graduate level.
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