Education is one of the foundational pillars of development for any country. It is also a key catalyst to promote women empowerment. India has come a long way in improving its literacy rates, however, there still exists a stark void in male population’s literacy rates versus the female population. According to data by NSO India's country-wide female literacy rate is 70.3 percent, as compared to 84.7 percent male literacy rate. In a bid to shorten this gap, experienced educationalist, Dr. S. Sumaya, Principal, Thassim Beevi Abdul Kader College for Women, has embarked on a challenging journey to empower and encourage women to get educated.

Dr. Sumaya began her teaching career in Madurai and later had good opportunities to develop her skills in teaching, administration and research. Under her leadership as a young Founder-Teacher, Thassim Beevi Abdul Kader College for Women is expanding by leaps and bounds and has now attained autonomous status during 2006-07. The institution in its third cycle of NAAC accreditation achieved ‘A’ grade with CGPA of 3.16 out of 4. The college has three research centres - in Commerce, Computer Science and Home Science. The TBIIC under MHRD, established in 2019-20, has four women start-ups on the campus.

The Women Entrepreneur Team caught up with Dr. S. Sumaya for a candid conversation about her journey as the Principal at Thassim Beevi Abdul Kader College for Women. Here are some snippets from the conversation.

Tell us about the foundation journey of the institution. What was the primary objective of setting up a degree college for women in the industrially backward town of Kilakarai, Ramanathapuram District?

With the grace of the Almighty, this college was inaugurated on 29 July 1988. We have crossed 34 years in our academic journey. During 1988, we observed that this region had no facilities for women to come out and learn. Thassim Beevi, who is the sister of B. S. Abdur Rahman, the founder wanted to take steps to empower the women of this region. She believed that higher ed­ucation plays a critical role in women empowerment, thus she urged her brother to establish a college for women in his home­town in Kilakarai, a coastal town in Ramanathapuram District. Alhaj Khalid A K Buhari, the college Secretary and elder son of Thassim Beevi also shares a similar passion to facilitate women empowerment through education in the Kilakarai region. He has been tirelessly dedicated to this cause and has helped the college grow over the years.

In the beginning when the college was started we had only three programs, Commerce, Home science and Computer science. Today we have 15 departments at the undergraduate/postgraduate level covering commerce, management, computational sciences, life sciences and basic sciences. Since 1991, UGC granted status of 2f and 12 (B), Act of 1956, and the college be­came eligible to receive grants from ninety-nine UGC schemes and central resource schemes. The college has introduced B.Com (Hons) B.Com Fintech, BSc Data Science as collaborative Programs with ACCA, ISDC, UK and NSE. Our faculty are well qualified with doctor­al and post-doctoral degrees. We are an ISO certified in­stitution and have been recognized by UGC and AICTE.

The quality education that we are offering to girls is unique. We have introduced need-based programs and region-based programs with skills for employability, which will create more women start-ups and entrepre­neurs in this region.

What is campus life like at Thassim Beevi Abdul Kader College for Women? How do you ensure the holistic development of students?

We promote students’ holistic development through various activities that are offered to the girls on cam­pus. Through our extracurricular programs, we offer the National Social Service, community social service and youth red cross. Co-curricular activities such as dramatics and various association activities of their respective departments have empowered them to acquire more skills. Our students are very good at Yoga, Sports & athletics. They have also bagged international awards since 2015-16.

What steps does Thassim Beevi Abdul Kader College for Women take to encourage more women to join higher studies?

In 1988 when I joined, we had to go to every household in Kilakarai to motivate them to send their girls to college opened exclusively for women. We gave them transportation facilities to bring them to the college in a safe mode. I had students from Sudan, Bangkok and Sri Lanka who all graduated from this campus. Now we have students from Delhi, Chennai, and Bangalore of which many are NRIs.

Our institution is one of the 500 institutions in India identified as the centre of excellence for women's empowerment under Honeywell, an MNC. During 2021- 22, the Director of Placement and Corporate Relations took the initiatives with the national head of Zoho Corporation, an MNC shortlisted 12 students out of 112 who were trained and placed in the company during this academic year. The model evolved is unique in the whole of India and has now been adopted by few other MNCs in rural pockets of India.

"The college has grown and transformed to cater to the needs of poor women around the college and the empowerment of women of this locale has created a good impact on the educational uplift"

How has Thassim Beevi Abdul Kader College for Women’s growth journey been so far?

The college has grown and transformed to cater to the needs of poor women around the college and the em­powerment of women of this locale has created a good impact on the educational uplift. This is the only au­tonomous college under Alagappa University enjoying its autonomy with full academic freedom to exercise in its true sense to meet the local and global challenges of women in particular.

Our graduates and postgraduates are employed in MNCs in India and abroad and also in the private and public sectors. I am proud and happy that for two and half decades, this college has brought a sea change in the educational uplift of the women minorities of this area. The overall development of this area through higher education of women in its true sense imparted through this college has transformed many a women of this region.

Being a leader of this institution for the past 28 years and a total length of 35 years of continuous ser­vice to the same institution, I have been instrumental in transforming the women of this locale in the State of Tamil Nadu.

What is the roadmap set for the institute in the days to come? Are you looking to employ any new strategies shortly to encourage more women to join higher education courses?

We want to make this institution the premier women’s university of this region. We aim to transform this college into a women’s university where we can have more programs in Law, Agriculture, Special Education, Engineering, Pharmacy, Public Relations and Informa­tion and Communication Technology. We will be able to cover everything under one umbrella and our stu­dents will have access to more opportunities to learn. Our mission is to empower Women in India and abroad who will be torch bearers of this Globe.

Dr. S. Sumaya, Principal, Thassim Beevi Abdul Kader College For Women (Autonomous)

Under Dr. S. Sumaya's autonomous leadership as Principal since 1992 the college has been improving by leaps and bounds to attain the autonomous status in the year 2005-06