Anti-Ragging Cell

Ragging refers to an act that violates the dignity of an individual. Most of the times ragging means playing tricks on somebody. But ragging in today’s times has become a menace, a human right violation.

In India, under the guise of welcoming new students into college, the senior students adopt damaging forms of interaction which leads to serious psychological issues. In 2009, University Grants Commission (UGC) has passed the “UGC regulation on curbing the menace of ragging in higher educational institutions, 2009”.

Ragging is still considered a serious problem in our institution. We have various means to communicate to students about the seriousness of ragging and our attitude towards ragging.

The anti- ragging pledge is displayed prominently in our college and students are required to read it and submit their undertaking. We do not stop at the physical aspects of ragging; we also check for psychological issues arising from student behaviour or teacher behaviour.

We are a teacher-training institute and training students to not only become effective teachers but also a humane and kind individual is also a necessity. Problems of bullying and ragging that they may encounter later as teachers requires us to prepare them today to deal with such situations!

We provide a disciplined and safe environment to our students and keep a continuous watch and vigil both offline and online over ragging to prevent any untoward incident in our college. We have a very active Anti-ragging, Cell.

Activities undertaken by the Anti-ragging Cell
Various activities were conducted throughout the academic session to highlight the purpose of the cell.

Orientation to ragging as a serious issue: All our students are introduced to the concept of ragging and anti-ragging. Awareness is created regarding what constitutes as ragging is done through presentation, small video clips, case studies are discussed in the class to highlight our stand on the issue.

Completion of anti-ragging pledge: Our students complete the online anti-ragging pledge and submit the same online as well as a hard copy is maintained by the college in our files. It is mandatory activity for all our students. Students of the second year of the college have to renew their pledge.

Counselling: Apart from the counselling done by the Principal and the teachers, we also have our in-house counsellor Ms. Yvette Lee who conducts sessions with the students as a group and also on an individual basis. She Conducts sessions on topics like handling stress in professional and personal life, stress due to the course at hand. She is available to the students to discuss matters on a personal level, either face to face or through telephonic conversations and emails.

Training: Our students are oriented to deal with school students. As part of their two-year course, they have to complete an internship period of 5 months in various schools and colleges. During this time, they are in direct contact with the students. We train them to detect student behaviour and also how to handle different types of behaviours. They are educated to notice signs among children which may show symptoms of ragging and the proper procedure for handling such issues, if and when they arise. During subject teaching, our students are encouraged to give positive reinforcements as well as positive teaching to the students.

Yoga sessions: In order to remove any stress in our lives, Yoga is a very good medium and we give our students an opportunity to participate in Yoga and meditation in our college. We invite experts from the field and as well as in-house teachers conduct Yoga and meditation for our students.

Self – development modules: We also conduct self-development activities for our students which teaches them about self-esteem, self-confidence, resilience self-compassion, etc. through various activities which helps students develop a positive self-image of the students.

Movies and videos: As per the UGC requirement, our students are given opportunities to watch various movies and videos on ragging and its ill effects. The weblinks are forwarded to the students and later these videos and movies are discussed in class.

Reflections: As so many varieties of activities were conducted by the anti-ragging cell, the entire academic year did not present any incidences of ragging in our institution. But as mentioned earlier, ragging may not always be physically visible but happen at a micro level. This year presented a different set of issues as everything was online due to the pandemic situation. But students were engaged using the available means to sensitize them to the problems and consequences of ragging.

Ragging refers to an act that violates the dignity of an individual. Most of the time ragging means playing tricks on somebody. But ragging in today’s times have become a menace, a human right violation.

In India, under the guise of welcoming new students into college, the senior students adopt damaging forms of interaction which leads to serious psychological issues. In 2009, University Grants Commission (UGC) has passed the “UGC regulation on curbing the menace of ragging in higher educational institutions, 2009”.

Ragging is still considered a serious problem in our institution. We have various means to communicate to students about the seriousness of ragging and our attitude towards ragging.

The anti- ragging pledge is displayed prominently in our college and students are required to read it and submit their undertaking. We do not stop at the physical aspects of ragging; we also check for psychological issues arising from student behaviour or teacher behaviour.

We are a teacher-training institute and training students to not only become effective teachers but human and kind individuals is also our responsibility. Problems of bullying and ragging that they may encounter later as teachers requires us to prepare them today to deal with such situations!

We provide a disciplined and safe environment to our students and keep a continuous watch and vigil both offline and online over ragging to prevent any untoward incident in our college. We have a very active Anti-ragging Cell.

Activities undertaken by the Anti-ragging Cell:

The Anti-ragging cell comprises of the principal of the college, Dr. Sally Enos, teacher-in-charge, Dr. Rakhi Sawlani and the General Secretary of the batch, Mr. Nirmit Dhuri. Once the cell is formed, we conduct various activities throughout the academic sessions to highlight the purpose of the cell.

Orientation to Ragging as a Serious Issue: All our students are introduced to the concept of ragging and anti-ragging. An awareness is created regarding what constitutes as ragging is done through presentation, small video clips, case studies are discussed in the class to highlight our stand on the issue.

Completion of Anti-Ragging Pledge: Our students complete the online anti-ragging pledge and submit the same online as well as a hard copy is maintained by the college in our files. It is mandatory activity for all our students. Students of the second year of the college have to renew their pledge.

Counselling: Apart from the counselling done by the Principal and the teachers, we also have our in-house counsellor Ms. Yvette Lee who conducts where sessions with the students as a group and also on an individual basis. She Conducts sessions on topics like handling stress in professional and personal life, stress due to the course at hand. She is available to the students to discuss matters on a personal level, either face to face or through telephonic conversations and emails.

Training: Our students are oriented to deal with school students. As part of their two-year course, they have to complete an internship period of 5 months in various schools and colleges. During this time, they are in direct contact with the students. We train them to detect student behaviour and also how to handle different types of behaviours. They are educated to notice signs among children which may show symptoms of ragging and the proper procedure for handling such issues, if and when they arise. During subject teaching, our students are encouraged to give positive reinforcements as well as positive teaching to the students.

Session on Gender Sensitization: A talk by Mrs. Dolly James was organized by the cell on “Gender Sensitization”. With nearly 30 years of experience in social work with NGOs at grass-root level, it was an honour to have her talk to our students about gender equality, discrimination, abuse, mental health of the members of the LGBTQ community. She also informed us about the government policies, bills which give rights to the members of this community. A teacher must be aware of all these aspects and be sensitive towards others so that any instance of ragging in future and the present times can be handled in a sensitive and correct manner.

Yoga Sessions: In order to remove any stress in our lives, Yoga is a very good medium and we give our students an opportunity to participate in Yoga and meditation in our college. We invite experts from the field and as well as in-house teachers conduct Yoga and meditation for our students.

Self-Development Modules: We also conduct self-development activities for our students which teaches them about self-esteem, self-confidence, resilience self-compassion, etc. through various activities which helps students develop a positive self-image of the students.

Movies and Videos: As per the UGC requirement, our students are given opportunities to watch various movies and videos on ragging and its ill effects. The weblinks are forwarded to the students and later these videos and movies are discussed in class.

Reflections:

As so many varieties of activities were conducted by the anti-ragging cell, the entire academic year did not present any incidences of ragging in our institution. But as mentioned earlier, ragging may not always be physically visible but happen at a micro level. This year presented a different set of issues as everything was online due to the pandemic situation. But students were engaged using the available means to sensitize them to the problems and consequences of ragging

Ragging refers to an act that violates the dignity of an individual. Most of the time ragging means playing tricks on somebody. But ragging in today’s times have become a menace, a human right violation.

In India, under the guise of welcoming new students into college, the senior students adopt damaging forms of interaction which leads to serious psychological issues. In 2009, University Grants Commission (UGC) has passed the “UGC regulation on curbing the menace of ragging in higher educational institutions, 2009”.

Ragging is still considered a serious problem in our institution. We have various means to communicate to students about the seriousness of ragging and our attitude towards ragging.

The 2020-2021 Academic year was online due to the lockdown imposed because of corona virus. But even then, understanding the online abuse that takes place, the college continued with all its activity using Google Meet platform. The anti- ragging pledge is displayed prominently in our college and students are required to read it but this year it was scanned and uploaded in the Google Classroom so everyone has access to it. We do not stop at the physical aspects of ragging; we also check for psychological issues arising from student behaviour or teacher behaviour.

We are a teacher-training institute and training students to not only become effective teachers but human and kind individuals is also our responsibility. Problems of bullying and ragging that they may encounter later as teachers requires us to prepare them today to deal with such situations!

We provide a disciplined and safe environment to our students and keep a continuous watch and vigil both offline and online over ragging to prevent any untoward incident in our college. We have a very active Anti-ragging Cell.

Activities undertaken by the Anti-ragging Cell:

The Anti-ragging cell comprises of the principal of the college, Dr. Sally Enos, teacher-in-charge, Bindu S Tambe and the General Secretary of the batch, Ms. Larissa Pereira. Once the cell is formed, we conduct various activities throughout the academic sessions to highlight the purpose of the cell.

Orientation to Ragging as a Serious Issue: All our students are introduced to the concept of ragging and anti-ragging. An awareness is created regarding what constitutes as ragging is done through presentation, small video clips, case studies are discussed in the class to highlight our stand on the issue.

Completion of Anti-Ragging Pledge: Our students complete the online anti-ragging pledge and submit the same online as well as a hard copy is maintained by the college in our files. It is mandatory activity for all our students. Students of the second year of the college have to renew their pledge from last year.

Counselling: Apart from the counselling done by the Principal and the teachers, we also have our in-house counsellor Ms. Yvette Lee who conducts where sessions with the students as a group and also on an individual basis. She Conducts sessions on topics like handling stress in professional and personal life, stress due to the course at hand. She is available to the students to discuss matters on a personal level, either face to face or through telephonic conversations and emails.

Training: Our students are oriented to deal with school students. As part of their two-year course, they have to complete an internship period of 5 months in various schools and colleges. During this time, they are in direct contact with the students. We train them to detect student behaviour and also how to handle different types of behaviours. They are educated to notice signs among children which may show symptoms of ragging and the proper procedure for handling such issues, if and when they arise. During subject teaching, our students are encouraged to give positive reinforcements as well as positive teaching to the students.

Session on Gender Sensitization: A talk by Mrs. Dolly James was organized by the cell on “Gender Sensitization”. With nearly 30 years of experience in social work with NGOs at grass-root level, it was an honour to have her talk to our students about gender equality, discrimination, abuse, mental health of the members of the LGBTQ community. She also informed us about the government policies, bills which give rights to the members of this community. A teacher must be aware of all these aspects and be sensitive towards others so that any instance of ragging in future and the present times can be handled in a sensitive and correct manner.

Yoga Sessions: In order to remove any stress in our lives, Yoga is a very good medium and we give our students an opportunity to participate in Yoga and meditation in our college. We invite experts from the field and as well as in-house teachers conduct Yoga and meditation for our students.

Self-Development modules: We also conduct self-development activities for our students which teaches them about self-esteem, self-confidence, resilience self-compassion, etc. through various activities which helps students develop a positive self-image of the students.

Movies and Videos: As per the UGC requirement, our students are given opportunities to watch various movies and videos on ragging and its ill effects. The weblinks are forwarded to the students and later these videos and movies are discussed in class.

Reflections:
As so many varieties of activities were conducted by the anti-ragging cell, the entire academic year did not present any incidences of ragging in our institution. But as mentioned earlier, ragging may not always be physically visible but happen at a micro level. This year presented a different set of issues as everything was online due to the pandemic situation. But students were engaged using the available means to sensitize them to the problems and consequences of ragging.

Ragging refers to an act that violates the dignity of an individual. Most of the time ragging means playing tricks on somebody. But ragging in today’s times has become a menace, a human right violation.

In India, under the guise of welcoming new students into college, the senior students adopt damaging forms of interaction which leads to serious psychological issues. In 2009, University Grants Commission (UGC) has passed the “UGC regulation on curbing the menace of ragging in higher educational institutions, 2009”.

Ragging is still given a serious approach in our institution. We have various means to communicate to students about the seriousness of ragging and our attitude towards ragging. The anti- ragging pledge is displayed prominently in our college and students are required to read it. We do not stop at the physical aspects of ragging; we also check for psychological issues arising from student behaviour or teacher behaviour.

Our students go on to become teachers and it is the college responsibility to make sure that along with other aspects of teacher training, we also train them to handle such problems as bullying and ragging.

We provide a disciplined and safe environment to our students and keep a continuous watch and vigil over ragging to prevent any untoward incident in our college. We have a very active Anti-ragging Cell.

Activities undertaken by the Anti-ragging Cell:

Once the cell is formed, we conduct various activities throughout the academic sessions to highlight the purpose of the cell.

Orientation to ragging as a serious issue: All our students are introduced to the concept of ragging and anti-ragging. An awareness is created regarding what constitutes as ragging is done through presentation, small video clips, case studies are discussed in the class to highlight our stand on the issue.

Completion of Anti-Ragging Pledge: Our students complete the online anti-ragging pledge and submit the same online as well as a hard copy is maintained by the college in our files. It is mandatory activity for all our students.

Counselling: Apart from the counselling done by the Principal and the teachers, we also have our in-house counsellor Ms. Yvette Lee who conducts where sessions with the students as a group and also on an individual basis. She Conducts sessions on topics like handling stress in professional and personal life, stress due to the course at hand. She is available to the students to discuss matters on a personal level, either face to face or through telephonic conversations and emails.

Training: Our students are oriented to deal with school students. As part of their two-year course, they have to complete an internship period of 5 months in various schools and colleges. During this time, they are in direct contact with the students. We train them to detect student behaviour and also how to handle different types of behaviours. They are educated to notice signs among children which may show symptoms of ragging and the proper procedure for handling such issues, if and when they arise. During subject teaching, our students are encouraged to give positive reinforcements as well as positive teaching to the students.

Yoga Sessions: In order to remove any stress in our lives, Yoga is a very good medium and we give our students an opportunity to participate in Yoga and meditation in our college. We invite experts from the field and as well as in-house teachers conduct Yoga and meditation for our students. Sessions are also organized on brain training exercises which allow our students to develop alertness in campus and outside of it.

Self-Development Modules: We also conduct self-development activities for our students which teach them about self-esteem, self-confidence, resilience self-compassion, etc. through various activities which helps students develop a positive self-image of the students.

Movies and Videos: As per the UGC requirement, our students are given opportunities to watch various movies and videos on ragging and its ill effects. The web links are forwarded to the students and later these videos and movies are discussed in class.

Reflections:

As so many varieties of activities were conducted by the anti-ragging cell, the entire academic year did not present any incidences of ragging in our institution. But as mentioned earlier, ragging may not always be physically visible but happen at a micro level. Some students mentioned that they feel isolated in the class due to their regional diversity or linguistic diversity. The anti-ragging cell discussed the issue with the class and it was stressed that a diverse class should be appreciated and understand the variety of cultures that come together.

At the time of orientation, students were given undertaking. The document “UGC Regulations on Curbing the Menace of Ragging in Higher Educational Institutions, 2009” was made available to students to read through display board, blog and google group. All students read these UGC regulations and submitted the undertaking. Students also filled the undertaking by Aman movement.

A blog on anti-ragging is created to create awareness about various aspects of anti-ragging. Helpline no., link to lodge a complaint and all important documents related to anti ragging and corporal punishment also posted on the blog. Some articles on ragging, tips on preventing ragging, an article about laws related to Ragging also posted for students. Another page on bullying includes information about bullying. It also gives access to online training on cyber bullying. Another page is about corporal punishment which has information related to corporal punishment. It has two award winning videos on corporal punishment.

Students watched videos about bullying and the discussion was carried out. It was an eye opener session for all.

Students were divided into groups and asked to choose a topic. Students chose various themes like game addiction, bullying punishment, ragging etc., and created posters in the group.

Students carried out discussion on the above-mentioned topic through an online discussion forum. They also wrote about their learning experiences in their reflective journals.

Students carried out small survey by collecting data using google form. They studied topics like causes of ragging, effects of ragging, adolescent suicide, smart phone addition, child abuse, internet addiction etc. These small surveys were very helpful for them to understand the various aspects of the issues and problems.

At the time of orientation, students were given undertaking. The document “UGC Regulations on Curbing the Menace of Ragging in Higher Educational Institutions, 2009” was made available to students to read through display board, blog and google group. All students read these UGC regulations and submitted the undertaking. Students also filled the undertaking by Aman movement.

Through Anti-ragging page of blog, students were given the material to read based on corporal punishment. Ms. Kanchan Sharma, Ms. Annu Binoy, Ms. Sanjana Gandhi and Ms. Renu Sharma, Students participated in symposium on the topic Corporal punishment on 30th August, 2017. They put forward their views on corporal punishment. Even other students participated in discussion which followed symposium. Students did web questing and supported the discussion with real life examples related to corporal punishment. The further discussion session was about strategies to solve the problem of corporal punishment.

A blog on anti-ragging is created to create awareness about various aspects of anti-ragging. Helpline no., link to lodge a complaint and all important documents related to anti ragging and corporal punishment also posted on the blog. Some articles on ragging, tips on preventing ragging, an article about laws related to Ragging also posted for students. Another page on bullying includes information about bullying. It also gives access to online training on cyber bullying. Another page is about corporal punishment which has information related to corporal punishment. It has two award winning videos on corporal punishment.

Students watched videos about bullying and the discussion was carried out. It was an eye opener session for all.

Students were divided into groups and asked to choose a topic. Students chose various themes like game addiction, bullying punishment, ragging etc., and created posters in the group.

Students carried out discussion on the above-mentioned topic through an online discussion forum. They also wrote about their learning experiences in their reflective journals.

Students carried out small survey by collecting data using google form. They studied topics like causes of ragging, effects of ragging, adolescent suicide, smart phone addition, child abuse, internet addiction etc. These small surveys were very helpful for them to understand the various aspects of the issues and problems.