Engage with the world
Working with local communities o!ers students and educational
institutions a host of benefits and helps with social transformation
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SELVAM JESIAH ,
Educational institutions are generally built to serve society through teaching,
research, and leadership in the communities that they serve. They are morally
accountable to create value for society through engaging their students, teachers
and resources in the process of social transformation. Nonetheless, community
engagement across India is not much seen or practised. This is owing to the
enormous pressure on schools and colleges that confines them to routine
teaching and learning processes of the subjects and contents in the curriculum.
Why it’s important
The impulse to get benefits out of mapping educational goals with community
engagement is poor among students and educators, despite the repeated
attempts from regulatory bodies and governments to ensure their participation in
the community’s well-being. The National Service Scheme (NSS), a traditional
the community’s well-being. The National Service Scheme (NSS), a traditional
method of connecting students with the community, has been lost due to the
coaching culture gaining importance. Students are exhausted from routine
learning and coaching and seldom think of others.
Community engagement is a systematic process by which the youth become
involved with and constructively contribute their time, energy, and e!orts to their
environments with a sense of purpose. Students and educational institutions must
believe that an issue that a!ects society impacts their lives in some way and work
with public, government, and non-government organisations to create sustainable
visions for the future. Involving students can help them understand and address
issues that a!ect people’s well-being and achieve sustainable outcomes, and
equitable decision-making processes that deepen relationships and trust between
the educational institutions and communities.
What can be done
Educational institutions should evolve di!erent approaches for community
engagement. Students — individually or with their teachers— can conduct
research to ascertain community needs and involve themselves in assessing and
developing ideas for inclusive and sustainable development. Students can develop
material to educate communities about their socio-economic issues and improve
their employment skills. Student volunteers can assist the government’s literacy
drive and help the public be aware of human and constitutional rights. They can
help small vendors and micro and small-scale entrepreneurs improve their
business skills and train the community in energy saving and environment
conservation.
Much can be done to educate the community to access health insurance schemes
of both the state and union governments. Students can also engage with migrant
labours and help them be aware of their health status, and the availability of
health facilities in and around their workplace. Educational institutions can o!er
public access to their libraries free of cost, as is done by many U.S. universities.
Community engagement helps students develop empathy, a sense of belonging
and empowers them to take action. Research has shown that students who are
involved in community activities are able to adapt easily to diversity, develop
leadership skills, and engage in critical self-reflection. They become socially
responsible, compassionate, and disciplined. Beyond the benefits to individual
students, such activities o!er educational institutions greater acceptance among
the public, build goodwill and reputation.
The UGC Guidelines for Institutional Development Plan 2024 and Social
Responsibility and Community Engagement in India 2.0, 2022, respectively call for
aligning academic values with social expectations, ensuring relevance and
aligning academic values with social expectations, ensuring relevance and
existence. Nonetheless, a well-tailored manual facilitating community engagement
is the need of the hour, to execute programmes in a systematic manner. For
successful implementation, the support of managements and teachers is
indispensable. Educational institutions should establish an O"ce of Community
Engagement (OCE) to plan and implement impactful activities that bring positive
changes and help attain the UN SDGs.
The writer is Professor and Principal Faculty of Management Sciences, Sri
Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research.
[email protected]
