Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs)

 Memorandums of Understanding(MoUs) signed with educational institutions and institutions committed to social causes help the college to move towards set goals in a more structured manner. Pushpanjali College of Education has signed formal MoUs with 

1. St Teresa's Institute of Education, Santacruz

2. Bosco Samajik Vikas Kendra, Jawhar

3. Kinjal Charitable Trust, Vasai

4. Luna Story Foundation, Vasai

5. National English High School, Virar

6. St Elizabeth High School, Holi, Vasai. 

A brief description of programmes carried out under the MoUs is provided below

2022-23

1. Programmes as part of  MoU with St Teresa's Institute of Education

Webinar on Preparing for 4th cycle of NAAC Accreditation

On 4 March 2023, the IQACs of St. Teresa’s Institute of Education, Santacruz and Pushpanjali College of Education, Vasai jointly organised a webinar on the theme ‘Preparing for the 4th cycle of NAAC Accreditation’. The resource person was Dr Sunita Wadikar, Former Principal of MES Pillai’s College of Education and Research. The initiative was spearheaded by Dr Sr Tanuja Waghamare(Principal of St. Teresa’s Institute of Education) and Sr Delicia Fernandes (Principal In charge of Pushpanjali College of Education). The IQACs coordinators of both institutions Dr Cindrella DMello and Dr Agnes DCosta coordinated the programme. The resource person deliberated on the Quality Indicator Framework and explained the seven criteria and the key indicators under each criterion. Valuable tips were given with respect to how these criteria need to be interpreted.

International webinar ‘Revisiting Education – Holistic Development through Empowered Minds’.

As part of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between St. Teresa’s Institute of Education and Pushpanjali College of Education, the two institutions jointly organised a webinar on 6 May 2023. The theme of the webinar was ‘Revisiting Education – Holistic Development through Empowered Minds’. The resource persons for the webinar were Mr John Leonard, teacher in a school in Maryland, USA, Dr Gauri Hardikar(Life Skills Consultant and Coach, Sr Vice President, World Curriculum, USA)  and Ms Upasana Sanghvi (Educator, Galaxy Education System, Rajkot). Over 180 participants representing different educational institutions were the beneficiaries of the webinar. 

2. MoU with Bosco Samajik Vikas Sanstha

As part of the  MoU with Don Bosco Vikas Sanstha, Jawahar, students and faculty visited the centre on 22 Nov 2022. 

Life skills session for tribal youth: The B.Ed students were divided into six groups and assigned a group of students from the technical school. They then conducted sessions on Life Skills for the students of the technical school. Many games and activities were conducted to reinforce the need to develop life skills like stress management, decision making, time management and problem solving. 

Session for B.Ed students on rural education: The B.Ed students have very little experience of the actual rural education scenario. During the visit to Bosco Samajik Vikas Sanstha, the students   interacted with the  centre in charge and got first hand information about how skill development courses are helping those in geographically disadvantaged areas. This was very useful to understand how employment and education need to be closely linked. The session also highlighted some of the  government schemes undertaken for rural development especially with respect to education and water conservation. Students visited check dams in the area and learned about water conservation. A visit to the palace of the former ruler of the place gave glimpses of the historical past of the area. 

3. MoU with Kinjal Charitable Trust

Kinjal Charitable Trust is an NGO run by Mr Sunil Anuse. The Trust set up in August 2019 manages an old age home where destitute seniors are looked after. The Trust also conducts regular programmes such as medical camps, visits to municipal hospitals to distribute fruits to the inmates. The NGO is a charitable institutions fully working on funds received from donations from the public. 

Students visited the organisation regularly and volunteered at the place helping the inmates with their daily chores. Festivals were celebrated with the inmates. Sir Sunil Anuse interacted with the students and discussed the issues faced by senior citizens thus empathizing the students towards the needs of senior citizens. 

4. MoU with Luna Story Foundation

Luna Story Foundation is an NGO led by Mr Lisbon Ferrao and Ms Zsusanna Ferrao. The organisation is mainly involved in ensuring clean environment especially with respect to maintaining clean beaches. As part of the MoU with the Foundation students participated in beach cleanliness drives and mangrove conservation. On 12 February 2023, the local beach of Bhuigaon was visited and the beach was cleared of the plastic garbage and the material brought ashore due to tides. The degradable material like twigs and non degradable material like plastic were separated. Glass bottles were kept in separate containers. Ms Ferrao oriented students on the problems associated with liteering the beaches. She also oriented students regarding the importance of mangrove conservation. 

5. MoU with National English High School

Two programmes were held as part of the MoU signed with National English High School, Virar. 

On 8 July 2023, students visited National English High School, Virar to observe the innovative use of school premises. The attractive learning resources that can be seen on every wall and each nook and corner of the school showed how each inch of place can become a learning area. Students got insights into how activity based resources can augment learning. Ms Gaurangini and Sir Shreyas guided the school tour. 

Ms Gaurangini Kulkarni Shetty conducted a workshop on Charged Classrooms for students of F.Y.B.Ed on 8 July 2023. The students participated in the various activities arranged by the resource person and learned how activities can be infused into the teaching learning process to ensure that students are involved in the learning process. The workshop was directed towards identifying and addressing needs of  learners with varied abilities. 

6. MoU with St Elizabeth Convent School, Holi 

St Elizabeth Convent High School, Holi caters to girl students many of who come from economically disadvantaged families. From November 2022 to March 2023, the students of SYBEd regularly visited the school and conducted remedial classes for these students. Interaction was held on a one to one basis. In some cases, co-operative learning strategies were employed to help the students grasp basic concepts.

 2021-22

As part of the MoU signed with St. Teresa's Institute of Education, the following programmes were conducted

6 April 2022:A session on NEP 2020 was organised in St. Teresa's Institute of Education on April 6, 2022 at 9:30 am. A total of 41 students attended. Dr. Agnes D'Costa, Associate Professor of Pushpanjali College  was invited to orient the students about the changes suggested by the NEP 2020. The session commenced with Dr. Agnes explaining the principles and the vision on which the policy is based. Each aspect of the policy was analysed. Dr. Agnes focused mostly on changes at the secondary level of education. She explained about the changes in curriculum and pedagogy such as the incorporation of mother tongue as the language of teaching, the three language model and incorporation of Sanskrit. Dr. Agnes also focused on what the policy would mean for teachers, emphasizing on completion of TET and 50 hours of CPD (Continuous Professional Development). At the end of the session, questions put forth by the students regarding the policy were answered by Dr. Agnes. The session concluded with a formal vote of thanks proposed by Felicita Rodrigues.

7 Sept 2022: As part of the TechFluent Teachers Course organised by St Teresa’s Institute of Education, a session on Thinglink was conducted by Dr Agnes Dcosta. ThingLink is an education technology platform that makes it easy to augment images, videos, and virtual tours with additional information and links.

20 Sept 2022 :Dr Cerena DCunha was the resource person for a session on Professional Growth of teachers. She addressed students of English pedagogy and elucidated the various dimensions of an effective teacher. She also discussed challenges faced in class room by an English teacher in India and explored the need and avenues of Continuous Professional Development.

22 Sept 2022:Dr Agnes DCosta oriented the students of St Teresa’s Institute of Education to Flippity. Flippity is a free website that allows users to turn Google spreadsheets into interactive digital manipulatives, activities, and tools. Teachers can use Flippity for a variety of purposes: to present to the class, to assess individual students, or to have students make their own creations. Students also learned to create free resources using Wordwall. Wordwall is a software that creates engaging and interactive activities that connect to boards and mobile devices to aid pupil progress. Students created resources using Wordwall and Flippity.