Media Release

Mangaluru, Dec 1: ‘Staff Conclave-2021’ - a district level faculty development programme was organized by St Aloysius PU College for the faculty from various institutions in and around Mangaluru. The programme was inaugurated by Fr Melwin Pinto SJ, rector - St Aloysius Institutions. In his key note address, he emphasized that development of skills in students is as important as regular academics and it is the responsibility of the teachers to make each individual independent through personal attention and guidance. Fr Clifford Sequeira SJ, principal - SAPUC in his welcome address spoke on the importance of faculty development programmes especially in today’s changing educational scenario. Fr Clifford encouraged all the staff to utilize such training sessions to equip themselves to face the unforeseen academic challenges. Pramila Patrao, HOD, department of Biology led the delegates into prayer while Kiran Shetty, dean and convenor of ‘Staff Conclave’ compered the programme.

The two day workshop had several prominent speakers addressing various key topics. Dr Malini N Hebbar, principal, Swastika National School, spoke on the methods to inculcate creative, logical and lateral thinking during her talk on ‘Concretizing the Abstract’. She also reflected on how being helpful makes one cheerful and emphasized on academic excellence, character formation, social concern and sustainable development.

Mahesh Nayak, human resource trainer, creative writer and media professional conducted various activities that encouraged teachers to learn ways of doing things differently and creatively and think out of the box during his session on ‘Gen Next: Make the Difference’.

Lugina Miranda, counselor and trainer, course coordinator for PGDGC, St Agnes PG and Research Centre, presented to the delegates ‘The impact of Covid-19 on the mental health of adolescents’ She gave various case studies to the participating teachers and suggested various techniques to deal with affected students.

Fr Pradeep Sequeira SJ, a seasoned Educationist, administrator and a counselor took up an engaging session on ‘Values and Ethics in Teaching Profession’. Fr Pradeep highlighted that values and ethics should never be a choice but should become a part of a teacher’s profession.

A session on Nation Education Policy was also taken up by Dr Flosy C R D’Souza, professor in Education, St Ann’s PG Studies and Research Centre. She highlighted the need, vision, major reforms, challenges and the way forward in making lasting changes in the education domain through NEP and critical analysis of NEP during her presentation on ‘NEP-Analysis of the Dilemma’.

Fr Sujay Daniel SJ, campus minister SAPUC, conducted a session on ‘True Education- spirituality based endeavor’. He spoke on the meaning, characteristics and sources of spirituality and the role of educators in assimilating spirituality in education.

The participants shared their experiences and learning during the valedictory programme.

The convenor Kiran Shetty thanked the resource persons and the delegated for their enthusiastic participation. The co-convenors, Amitha Shetty, Sylvia Mascarenhas, Deevith Kotian, Pramila Patrao and Divya Pinto were involved in designing and executing the training programme.