In 1969, St. Paul’s started a Pre University course which was initially a one year course attached to Karnataka University. But due to unforeseen circumstances, the management could not continue the institute, and had to subsequently close it down by June 1975.
The Management decided, when Fr. Walter de Souza SJ was Principal, to expand St.Paul’s High School by starting the PUC (Pre University Course) which government had just offered to High Schools on the suggestions of the Kothari Report.
It was meant to be a one year course and was attached to the University. We came under the control of Karnatak University, Dharwad.
The classes were started in real earnest and with a lot of enthusiasm from all students, both boys and girls from St. Paul’s and St. Joseph’s because it was easy for them to get admission. However the courses offered were only Arts and Commerce as the size of our classrooms was too small to have a sufficiently large laboratory for Science. Besides our laboratory was not sufficiently equipped for Science courses.
The courses were run in the given physical space available and with many of the present staff of the High School who were sufficiently qualified to take the connected Arts subjects at this higher level. Only a few professionals had to be engaged for running the classes in the Accounts side of the Commerce section.
However, with the numbers in the classes, it was soon realized that we would have to find better physical accommodation if we were not to have over-crowding in the classes.
Our results in the first three or four years was very good. In 1971 and 1972, we had very good results. Even though we were a small institution in size and taking the number of students into consideration, in both years, the institution got top University ranks.
In 1971 the Government of Karnataka took a decision, following certain all-India patterns, that the PUC may also be opened by colleges. It was also decided that the one year course would henceforth be made a two year course. The PUC was upgraded to the Junior College level so that students could smoothly move into the degree section of the College. That was a turning point. First of all, we were not offering Science courses, so most of our own boys, who were mostly going into the Science stream did not want to come to our institution. Secondly, students realized that after they finished the Junior College with us they would have to seek fresh admission for degree level in another college which might be difficult if places were already filled up in the good colleges. Lastly, perhaps very important for the students, they felt that we were running the course with the atmosphere of a high school. They did not get the freedom that they would have had in college. Most of them had joined our PUC because of parental pressure. Consequently there was a big drop in admission most of all from our students. Worse still, many students who were very poor academically and could not get admission into a good college began to come to us just for the sake of a paper degree. Many of them made no effort to study or improve their levels.
Other problems that arose were certain technical requirements of the newly formed PUC Board. Since the number of our students was decreasing and we did not always have the required number of students for a full-time lecturer, we were allowed only part-time lectures. At the same time new job opportunities were available in colleges for PUC lecturers. The end result was that the best newly appointed lecturers moved to other colleges. This affected our standards even more. The end result was that it was very disheartening to run the PUC. To compound our miseries even more, the PUC board paid the lecturers. They moved on to better prospects. Later when the departmental audits took place the officials claimed that certain amounts paid to the staff were mistakes and we were asked to make recovery from the person concerned. When we pointed out our inability to do so as the staff member was no more with the institution, they began to demand that the management had to make good the amount paid to the staff member. On the other hand the staff members concerned began approaching the courts to get relief. In this process we were more than once dragged to court as the in-between party. These headaches made it imperative to find a solution. Those concerned found that the easiest and fastest solution was to close the PUC totally because it did not fulfil the purposes for which we had started the classes in the first place. It was done without much heart-break because we at no stage contemplated expanding the Junior college into a full-fledged college, although at the time there was every likelihood that we would have got the permission if we had applied. However the government stipulation at the time was that there would be no maintenance grant from the government for the running of these colleges. Our sister institutions running in other states and already having full-fledged colleges pointed out the problems of personnel and finance we would have to face. With our high school being so tightly strapped for cash it was impossible to think of taking on a fresh financial burden for the junior college. The management’s St. Vincent’s Commerce College Pune was considered more important and had to be supported financially and with personnel. So this inevitably brought down the curtain on the PUC enterprise in Belgaum.
Highlights of the PUC Enterprise
- 1969-70 – 40 Students were sent for the first time for University examinations. 88% passed as against 35% of the University results and 28% of a local college. Our student, Manik Salve got the 3rd Rank in the University.
- 1970-71 – 85% passed. Our students got 3 of the first 10 University Ranks.. Stanford Smith secured the 2nd place, Lydia D’Souza obtained 5th and Sr. Grace D’Souze got the 10th Rank.
- 1971 – The 2 year course started for the first time. The institute was now called “St.Paul’s Composite Junior College, Belgaum.” The first year results were 100% and the first to the college was Marjorie Mendonca who got 71%.
- 1972-73 – The first year results were 97% and Jyoti Deshpande stood 1st. The second year results were 93% and Agnello Rodrigues stood 1st.
A fresh initiative began taking birth in 2016
The School Management was in the process of planning and re-opening the Pre-University College at St. Paul’s for quite some time now. However, with time consuming Government regulations and in numerous number of factors to consider, the development of this venture was often delayed.
Most recently, in late 2016, the Paulites of Belgaum Worldwide (PBW) team assisted the school with designing the building plans for the proposed PU College.
This PU College was decided to be tucked behind an existing building built to the side of the hostel (Gnanmata Bal Bhavan), and is designed to be a simple “L” shaped block. A portal in brick and concrete, will form an entrance porch and courtyard for the PU block, giving it a distinct visual identity, and creating a courtyard that seamlessly connects with the rest of the campus, yet affords a distinct open space for the older kids. The same building was also proposed to house the Alumni Club and indoor sports facility.
The Re-birth of Pre – University at St. Paul’s
The process of re-starting the P.U. College began in 2017. The launch/release of the brochure of “St. Paul’s Integrated PU College of Science and Commerce,” was held on 25th November 2017, by the Provincial, Fr. Roland Coelho SJ, at St. Paul’s High School, Belgaum.
On 9th October 2018 the new building of St. Paul’s P.U. College of Science and Commerce was blessed and inaugurated. Former Paulite, Educationist and Finance expert – Mr. Rajendra Belgaumkar of the 1980 Batch of St. Paul’s, was the Chief Guest. Former Paulite & Provincial of the Goa Jesuit Province – Rev. Fr. Dr. Roland Coelho SJ and Educationist – Mrs. Vidya Shahapurkar were the Guests of Honour, along with the Paulite Link Team – Praveen Kulkarni, Aslam Saith and S. Bandukwalla. Inspiring messages were delivered by the Chief Guest, Guests of Honour and Principal to the students, teachers, and parents. Rev. Dr. Roland SJ said that it is a policy of the Jesuits to strive to inculcate and transform students as men and women of character and good citizens of the society.
The St. Paul’s Pre-University College: Today
St. Paul’s Pre-University College of Science and Commerce is indeed a proud mission of the Jesuit missionaries in creating a conducive environment for passionate learning experience where the three ‘E’s, Expertise, Excellence & Energy are valued to fulfil the potential of both the Lecturers as well as the students. Global outlook, multicultural orientation, analytical thinking, nurturing self-confidence, academic excellence, multiple intelligence, passionate love for mother earth, intellectual curiosity and a Joy filled experimental learning experience is our focus wherein our students develop into healthy citizens and join a Global Community.
We at St. Paul’s PU College believe in kindling the fire and challenging the dynamics of thinking there by expanding the ethos of moral values & principles and hence setting the onus on our vision, to build human communities imbued with Justice, Love and Peace – In solidarity with the poor and the marginalised. Thus we aim at forming men and women, conscious of their mission to serve especially the underlying.
In this Journey where the Jesuit Ideals of imparting education on a one-to-one basis, by realising the rich potentials our students are enriched with, we seek the support of our stakeholders — the Parents who must become role models for their children — as they emulate their Parents and Lecturers with equal gusto. Let us join hands and take up the noble responsibility of elevating the minds of our students. Our distinction lies in the pursuit of high academic excellence through positive and proactive motivation and encouragement.
We are sure you are at the right place embarking on the fruitful journey towards a brighter tomorrow.
“To give, and not to count the cost,
to fight, and not to heed the wounds,
to toil, and not to seek for rest,
to labour, and not to ask for any reward,
save that of knowing that we do thy will”
— St. Ignatius of Loyola —
Further Reading
- St. Paul’s Pre-University College Official Website
https://www.stpaulspuc.in/