Saiva Siddhantham courses popular in HR&CE-run colleges
Saiva Siddhantham courses that include studies on the origin and development of Saiva religions, aspects of Saiva temple worship, rituals and festivals are an added attraction at colleges being run by Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department on behalf of temples in the State.
'We run a six-month-long certificate course, which anybody can join. This is a very popular one, especially in the four new colleges started at Kolathur, Oddanchathiram, Thiruchengodu and Vilathikulam. Since there is no age bar and the classes happen in the weekends, students find it convenient,' explained an official source in the HR&CE.
All the nine colleges being run by the department have applied for affiliation for the B.A. Saiva Siddhantham course. 'Of these, seven have obtained affiliation for the course and have started distributing application forms. Apart from arts and science courses, students seem to have a liking for this course too,' said P. K. Sekarbabu, Minister for HR&CE.
The nine colleges, which include a polytechnic, have close to 12,300 seats and the four new colleges seem to be more popular than the existing institutions. Four of them are being run on self-financing mode, meaning they are funded by the respective temples and the others are aided.
'In the last four years we have followed only government norms when it comes to fees. We have not increased the fee amount for our schools and colleges since the poorest of poor come here. For the past two years, we have also been able to get companies to come for campus recruitments,' he added.
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