A mobile application for attendance monitoring of students was being introduced by the St Xavier's College from the next academic session.

The app will also facilitate sharing study contents.

The application will help in recording attendance of students by teachers through tabs provided by college and the authorities were aiming to fully introduce it in the next academic session, college Principal Dominic Savio told a press meet here.

He said the mobile apps will also help in sending notifications to students in a particular room or multiple rooms and the process was already underway to give tabs to the teachers.

"The mobile app will facilitate sharing class notes, contents, diagrams among the teachers/authorities with students," he said.

The Principal added this was aimed for increased interaction between teachers and students with the use of modern technology and not for monitoring the students' move.

Among the other measures, the Principal said, the college will have a couselling cell for parents apart from students.

"Apart from the couselling facilities presently available to the students, the new cell will reach out to their parents," he said asserting it will be different from a typical parent-teacher meet one usually sees in schools.

"We consider the parents as being major stakeholders in the progress and overall development of their children. There will be counsellors in each department," Savio said.

To a question if such a move was necessitated by any recent incident of abuse of school children in few educational institutions or any case of depression having been reported, Savio said, "No no, we felt the need to have such a cell so that parents can also communicate with the college regarding any problem involving the student.

"It is only meant for the holistic development of the student." 

The Principal said, the college aimed at setting up hostel for boys and girls at its rural campus at Raghabpur in South 24 Parganas district to enable students from interior areas of Sunderbans and other far flung places in the district at lesser fee than the main Park Street campus.

The college, which is the second oldest of Jesuit Institutions in India founded in 1860 by Father Henri Depelchin S.J, will also be introducing Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) in all the subjects from coming academic year.

As per CBCS a science student can now take up arts subject and vice versa in between semesters.

"Earlier it had been introduced in Commerce and Business Administration departments and now we are extending it to the Arts and Science departments," he said.

"Preparations began in July 2017 with regard to curriculum, syllabus/examination ways and everything is in place for expeditious implementation," he said.

The college also planned to start a new chapter of the Alumni Association in South Africa in next August, taking the number of Alumni Association chapters to 10, he said.