Government Arts College, Coimbatore

About College:

There are a number of government colleges for degree courses in the state of Tamil Nadu. Some have been started by the state government, but many were even established back during the era of the British rule. The oldest of these is in the city of Coimbatore, one of the biggest in the state. It was started in the year 1852. The aim back then was the dissemination of liberal education with a choice in the medium of study, between English and the vernacular Tamil. A number of these government colleges are dedicated towards the study of the arts subjects. While initially all were stand- alone colleges, with time, these have all acquired the affiliation of some university or the other. 

The Government Arts College of Coimbatore is now affiliated to the Bharathiar University, also from Coimbatore. This affiliation ensures approval from the UGC (University Grants Commission). It has been on since 1964, before which the college was affiliated to the Madras University. This was also the year that post- graduation courses were added to the armoury here. While the college itself started in 1852, before even the advent of the Madras University, it was only by 1870, that the courses imparted here, came to be recognized, as full- fledged graduation degrees. The college has also been accredited by the NAAC (National Assessments and Accreditation Council), earning an A grade rating in it.

A separate IQAC (Internal Quality Assurance Cell) has been created to this end, to ensure that all the terms of the NAAC are complied with. An AQAR (Annual Quality Assurance Report) gets generated to quantify the results. Some specific courses here, have also been ratified by the AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education). The Government Arts College, Coimbatore has also paid a lot of importance to the broader social good. This is the reason that students studying here have participated in several central and state government schemes. Participation has been strong in schemes such as the NSS (National Service Scheme), YRC (Youth Red Cross) and the NCC (National Cadet Corps). 

As the name of the college would suggest, the primary motive of this college, is imparting training in the arts subjects. But some science and commerce courses have also been added lately here. The college offers programmes at both UG, as well as PG levels. The B.A. is offered in the areas of Tamil Literature, English Literature, Economics, History, Political Science, Public Administration, Defence Studies, Tourism & Travel Management and in Business Economics. Likewise, the M.A. is also offered in those same courses mentioned, barring in Defence Studies. There are several science areas also up on offer, here at the Government Arts College, Coimbatore. 

The BSc. may be availed in the areas of- Physics, Chemistry, Botany, Computer Science, Statistics, Geography, Psychology, Information Technology, Zoology, Computer Application and for Mathematics. The same set of courses are also on offer at the master’s level for the MSc course. Commerce students may go for a B. Com at UG level or M. Com post that. It is common for the commerce aspirants to take up these courses, in addition to making genuineattempts towards clearing the CA exams. The professional course of BBA has also been started by the college. This has been an honest attempt to propel this Coimbatore- based towards the courses most in demand now. 

Beyond this, students may go for the M. Phil and PhD. programmes. These are highly research- oriented, and field work driven. Most of the courses on offer at this college, may be undertaken in either Tamil or English mediums. The entire academics at here is run by a team of three departments. These are for each of the areas of arts, science and commerce. Research is also given much importance, here at the Government Arts College, Coimbatore. The library here is one of the best stocked within the region. Besides the physical books on display, it also provides digital access to en number of international academic journals for research and academic purposes.

The campus has much to offer. PG facilities for both boys and girls, banking facilities with ATM, convenience stores and access to public transport are all available immediately outside the college campus. There is a sports field where outdoor games may be played. Facilities are also there for indoor sports. A fairly large auditorium is there to facilitate major events, at both intra and inter college level. The campus has adequate IT infrastructure. Science laboratories are well- stocked. A health centre is also there to cater to medical emergencies. Hygienic food is served at the college cafeteria. All this and more has led to the college accruing high ranks across the platforms. The most prestigious of them, the NIRF (National Institutional Rankings Framework) has placed it at rank 33 all India, among degree colleges.