Coimbatore: The Govt Arts and Science College for Women at Puliyakulam has approached the state govt with a request to allocate 410 additional seats and introduce new science and postgraduate courses.The college, the first govt women’s arts and science college in the district that started in 2020, has been functioning from its new building since last year. It currently offers BA English, BA Tamil, BA Economics, BSc Computer Science, BSc Mathematics and BCom. The college has a strength of 710 students and classes are conducted in two shifts. Principal in charge Dr Anusmitha Sebastian said the college received more than 2,000 applications last year, prompting the management to request 240 additional seats in the first shift and 170 in the second shift. She said students from across the state, including Kallakurichi, Dharmapuri, Thanjavur, Cuddalore, Hosur, Sattur, Madurai and Villupuram, have enrolled in the college. “As there is a strong demand, particularly among first-generation graduates and students from economically weaker sections, we also have sought introduction of PG courses in line with the existing undergraduate programmes, besides new undergraduate courses in physics, chemistry, botany, zoology, microbiology and biochemistry. Students who have completed Class XII could apply through www.tngasa.in.” Dr P Malathy, associate professor, Department of English, said the college was conducting two hours of daily coaching in the afternoon in coordination with the Employment Exchange Office to help students prepare for TNPSC and other govt competitive exams. She said students were actively participating in these coaching sessions. “Over the past three years, the college has also been focusing on ensuring student participation in govt and private job fairs, helping them explore employment opportunities. More than 200 students have been placed in various sectors, including IT, ITES, healthcare, core medical services, and commercial establishments. Notably, literature students were recently placed in a leading publishing house for content writing roles,” she said. Apart from the regular curriculum, students are trained in AI tools, digital marketing, coding, banking and storytelling under the “Naan Mudhalvan” scheme, the principal said. “Students’ progress is monitored through self-evaluation and mobile-based tracking. Two students from the commerce department were selected under the scheme for an overseas training programme in Malaysia.”
