Empowering Students to Become Excellent Human Resources

Located in Begur Road, Hongasandra, Bengaluru, The Oxford College of Pharmacy, was a dream of a visionary, late S. Narasa Raju, and demand of the students. S. N. V. L. Narasimha Raju, President, Children’s Education Society (R) has been carrying forward the legacy set by the great educationist. Established in 1992, the College of Pharmacy is a prestigious name to reckon with. Students are blessed with state-of-the-art infrastructure and industry-ready training at the college. Narasimha Raju, who is tirelessly working towards setting high standards for the college along with a dedicated army of teaching and non-teaching staff, shared his journey and insights about education in an interview with The Knowledge Review.

Excerpts from the interview:

What inspired you to venture into the education field?

Pharmacy was an emerging course in a thrust area with greater employability both in pharmaceutical industries and in hospitals and medical stores. Students who had passed 2^nd PUC/+2 in PCMB combination and whoever aspired to join pharmacy course had approached the management of The Oxford Educational Institutions seeking admission. The then chairman, a great visionary Vidyasri S. Narasa Raju had set apart a portion of the building in phase 1, JP Nagar for establishment of The Oxford College of Pharmacy with all the requisite infrastructure, and for appointing the principal and faculty had secured the approval of the AICTE and PCI and got affiliation of Bangalore University in the year 1992 conducive to cater the ambition of the students seeking admission to such course.

Please brief us about the initial stages of the institute.

The institute was initially established in the academic year 1992-93 to offer D.Pharm and B. Pharm courses with an intake of 60 students with the approval of AICTE and PCI. The RGUHS was established in June 1996. The College automatically stood affiliated to it. In the year 2005, PG programme in M. Pharm courses were introduced in the specialties of pharmacognosy with intake of 10 followed by Pharmaceutics and Pharmacology in the year 2010 with an intake of 18 students each. In the year 2009-10, PCI had introduced an integrated six-year Pharm D course and three-year Pharm D (PB) course. Both the courses were started with the approval of PCI and affiliation of RGUHS. A new spacious building was constructed in Hongasandra within the close proximity of The Oxford Dental College and Engineering College campus with super infrastructural facilities. Research Institute with the recognition of RGUHS was established in the PG Department of Studies in Pharmacognosy to conduct research activities leading to award of Ph D.

Did you face any teething problem? How did you tackle them?

In the academic year 2014-15 and 2015-16 admission of students to B. Pharm and M. Pharm courses was considerably shrunken. Adequate number of students were not at all available for admission to both UG and PG courses. There was acute financial crunch in mobilizing the resources. However, the management confronted the situation by self sustenance and self funding in running the institute effectively by maintaining the same academic standard and excellence.

Please share your journey of building this prestigious educational empire.

The institute is an integral part of The Oxford Educational Institutions which are premier and renowned, carrying high reputation at National and International level. Established in the academic year 1974-75 from the level of Kannada Nursery and Primary School and English Nursery, Primary and High School. Later, CBSE and ICSC/ISC, PU College, Polytechnic, Medical, Dental, Engineering, Architecture, Science, Business Management, Hotel Management, Law, Arts, Education, Nursing, Physiotherapy Colleges were established. Currently 84 courses in different steams are offered. Admission of students to D. Pharm, B. Pharm, M. Pharm, Pharm D and Pharm D (PB) were gradually improved after a gap of recession. However, infrastructural facilities were upgraded and updated to continue to offer the courses with similar excellence by adopting innovative methods of teaching and latest technological devices. The students were trained in such a manner to meet the national and global competition. The holistic approach and up-skills enabled the students to acquire high degree of proficiency.

What activities do you conduct to ensure the overall wellbeing and holistic development of students?

The following activities have been carried out frequently under the out-reach, add-on and beyond curricular to create a breed of students for wellbeing and holistic development. Smart class rooms with ICT facility and LCD projectors, film documents, videos, PPTs and well-equipped lab facilities have been provided and also the other latest technology in teaching have been adopted for effective teaching and learning methods.

Physical education, sports, games, classes on Yogic Sciences and Meditation to become more flexible.
Programmes are held emphasizing the critical thinking, creativity, flexibility and collaboration.
Programmes on student motivation, soft skill development, personality growth and sustainable state of positive mood attitude, resilience and satisfaction.
Conducting lectures relating to mind, body, spirit and good relations.
Participation in blood donation campus.
Guest lectures from resource persons on philanthropic topics and inculcate human values.
Entrepreneurship

Who has been your role model?

The great visionary, philanthropist and educationalist of national reputation Vidyasri S. Narasa Raju, the Founder-Chairman is the role model with a mission to empower the students in becoming excellent human resource and to contribute meaningfully to the society at large. His footsteps have vigorously been followed for achieving academic eminence and rendering yeomen service to the society.

What is your success mantra?

“Every teacher was once a student. Every winner was once a loser, every expert was once a beginner but all of them have crossed a bridge called ‘Learning’.

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world and to render service to the student community with updated knowledge”

What message would you like to give to the youth?

Pharmacy course is a constituent of Medical and Health Sciences to serve the patients. Doctors may prescribe curative medicines and drugs after diagnosis. But the role of pharmacist is paramount not only in manufacturing such remedial medicines but also to rightly ensure their supply to the patients and rightly administering it by doctors and nurses. Pharmacists should endeavour to avert self-medication by the patients. They could also appraise the Doctors with new and latest medicines; serve the society by enlightening to reject adulterated and banned medicines; and educate the people about expiry date of medicine embedded on each item of medicine.

Where do you see yourself and your institution in future?

The college is preparing to meet research and innovation, competitiveness and survival in a new era and to meet the global tie-ups with international universities and Multinational Pharmaceutical Companies under exchange programme. NEP may result in multidimensional outcome in pursuit of achieving eminence and academic standards and the institute will be on the top of pharmacy colleges existing in India.

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