Under the DBT Star College Scheme of the department of biotechnology, government of India, Durgapur Government College has been organising several hands-on training programmes, experiments, workshops, industrial visits, field visits and outreach activities to promote experiential learning in line with the objectives of the modern education system.

In the months of June and July this year, events under the scheme included training on electrical equipment, water quality analysis, milk testing, biological waste disposal, horticultural practices, prawn culture, vitamin C estimation, estimation of total protein content in tissues, species composition analysis, saponification value of oil, essential oil isolation, vegetation mapping, computational software and hardware training, etc.

In June 2024, a student project on “Industrial Pollutant Concentration Assessment of Groundwater” was conducted by locating the polluted groundwater sample collection sites through remote sensing and then collecting water samples from the wells and tubewells located in different places of Durgapur, such as Gopalmath, Mayabazar, Kalpataru Mela Maidan, Shyampur Bazar, Biharpur, Narayanpur and Nodiha, followed by laboratory testing to assess the drinking water quality. This 15-day training programme on water quality analysis was conducted under the supervision of Nivedita Acharjee, coordinator of the DBT Star College Scheme of Durgapur Government College.

A two-day hands-on training on “Basic Electrical Equipment and Home Appliances” was organised by Durgapur Government College from 18-19 July 2024, in collaboration with the Government Industrial Training Institute. Ramesh Rakshit, recipient of the National Teacher Award from the ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship, government of India, for the year 2023, and all instructors of the Government Industrial Training Institute, Durgapur, trained 16 undergraduate students of Durgapur Government College on the working principle, mode of operation, instrumentation details, repairing and safe handling of basic electrical equipment and home appliances such as tubelights, fans, switchboards, motors, air conditioners, etc. Students learnt about different parts of tube lights, fans and switch boards and were also able to successfully connect these electrical appliances under the supervision of the instructors. Debnath Palit, principal of Durgapur Government College, stated that they organised this hands-on training with the vision to amalgamate general and technical education so that students could apply scientific knowledge to operate electrical equipment used in our daily lives. On 5 July, a workshop on “Seed Ball Plantation” was organised under the scheme. Students collected left-over seeds of fruits and prepared seed balls by encasing seeds in a mixture of half a portion of soil with half a portion of organic manure. This practice of throwing seed balls for plantation is a low-cost and effective means of fast plantation and protects seeds from drying out, blowing away, or getting eaten by birds and animals. This event encouraged and motivated students to devise innovative, environmentally friendly plantation practices. On 8 July, students were taken for hands-on training on horticultural practices at Barjora Horticulture Farm under the scheme, and on 10 July, hands-on training on prawn culture was organised in which M Pravin Kumar from Biome Biologicals Private Limited shared his valuable insights and experiences on the innovative practices of prawn culture. This event fostered the concept of “Earning While Learning”, which focused on the skill enhancement of students.

On 11-12 July, a telescope-making and stargazing programme was organised as an outreach activity for students of local schools. The event was organised on 11 July 2024, at Durgapur Government College Campus and on 12 July 2024, at Patha Bhavana, Santiniketan. The event was inaugurated by Debnath Palit, principal, Durgapur Government College. Biswajit Maiti, associate professor, department of physics, Maulana Azad College, Kolkata, delivered a plenary talk on “The Evolution of Telescope”. Palash Chatterjee, teacher of Sri Ramakrishna Sikshalaya, Howrah, delivered a plenary talk on “Observation of Night Sky” and provided hands-on training on telescope making. 150 students and 26 teachers of 21 schools in Durgapur actively participated in the event on 11 July 2024, and 120 students from 10 schools attended the event on 12 July 2024, at Patha Bhavana, Santiniketan. This innovative event is the first of its kind to be organised by a higher education institution and received overwhelming appreciation from school students and teachers. This event proved to be helpful in enhancing the scientific understanding of school students and motivated them to pursue science in their higher studies.

On 16 July 2024, a hands-on training programme on “Open Source Hardware and Software: The Raspberry Pi” by Debabrata Biswas, assistant professor of the department of physics at Bankura University, was organised to improve the computational skills of undergraduate students. Another interesting industrial training was conducted by the college on 20 July 2024, to the industry Sun Ceramics located in Durgapur, where 26 students learnt the industrial techniques of using scrap iron for manufacturing several items and industrial parts. On the same day, students were also taken for a field visit to Malandighi Forest, where they found and analysed some unique plant species as a part of experiential learning. On 22 July, students were taken to the milk production farm for a field visit followed by laboratory testing to assess the purity. The DBT Star College Scheme has enabled Durgapur Government College to provide interdisciplinary dimension to the teaching and learning process, enhance practical learning through workshops and hands-on training programmes, encourage the use of ICT tools, and promote the exchange of knowledge through expert interactions, which are the primary objectives of the modern education system under the National Education Policy.