Students attend the personality development class at Sri Arvind Mahila College. Telegraph picture

Sri Arvind Mahila College has decided to restart its course on personality development, which was a hit among students last year.

The 25-day course was introduced in September 2010 and about 200 students enrolled in it. The course was closed in March this year owing to examinations.

College principal Asha Singh said the course was very popular among students. After the course was closed, many students who could not pursue it earlier approached the college principal with requests to restart it. “That’s why we decided to restart this course,” Singh told The Telegraph.

Singh said the college finances the course. “We do not take a single penny from students for this course. Our aim was to make students smarter and confident. As most students in this college come from middle-class and poor families, many don’t know about the importance of personality development. I have seen that many students are rejected in campus placements because they don’t possess a good personality. Today, a degree is not enough to get a good job, one needs to be presentable too. Most of the students don’t know about the importance of body language during an interview. Many don’t know how to present themselves. So I came up with this course that could give students a proper insight on personality development,” Singh added.

She, however, said the college would charge Rs 100 as fee from the next session in July.

She said the college has appointed experts from business process outsourcing (BPOs) and management sectors for this course. These experts conduct classes on personality development. The course co-ordinator, Prashant Singh, is from the management sector, while Iqbal Hussain, Prashant Kumar and Azhar Khan (other teachers) are from the BPO sector. Another faculty member, Shehnaz, used to work at VLCC Institute, Calcutta, while Rajendra Yadav is a yoga expert,” said Singh, adding that the same faculty will teach students in the next session.

“As part of the course, we teach students about etiquettes, manners, handshakes, body language, voice and accent modulation, time and stress management and group discussion techniques. We also teach them how to appear for interviews. They learn how to groom themselves and practise yoga,” said Azhar.

Khan, who has worked as a communication executive in the BPO sector before, said: “From the next session, we will add some more topics like UK accent training, thought process, language training, corporate training and body fitness training,” he said, adding that the course will be extended from 25 to 40 days from the next session.

Students who enrolled in the course last year got a free makeover as part of the training.

“Students learnt hair cutting, eyebrow shaping and other basic grooming activities during the course,” said Asha, adding: “Every student who enrolled in the course got a makeover from experts.”

Preeti Kumari, a first-year bachelor of computer applications student, said: “It was a very good experience. I got to learn so many things during the course. From grooming to time management, from stress management to body language, I learnt a lot. All these are going to add to my personality,” said Preeti.

Bachelor in business administration student Sapna said: “I learnt to groom myself. I also got a makeover by experts during this course. Now I look better than before. This course has instilled confidence in me,” added Sapna.