The conversation in many a drawing room in houses with Plus Two students should invariably be on what to study and where. In a few houses, that should have been settled as either the student or parents must have finalised one or both by now.
That opinion might be against going in for computer science engineering or information technology courses, say academia watchers.
The reason they say: the recent retrenchment in information technology companies. This has earned the IT companies negative publicity and that will influence the decision-making process.
But, not all are ready to go with this view. A.K. Natesan, president, Tamil Nadu-Puducherry Chapter, Indian Society for Technical Education, says that the IT companies asked only middle level and senior employees to leave so that they could recruit more freshers – meaning, more engineering graduates passing out of colleges.
In the coming days, the recruitment will only be good not only for the information technology sector but also for the core engineering sector – mechanical, electrical, civil, textile technology and electrical and electronics engineering disciplines, says another education expert.
Seconding this view, Chief Executive of Bannari Amman Institute of Technology A.M. Natarajan says that the reason for the core engineering disciplines doing well is the Prime Minister’s Make in India programme. In four or five years, when this programme gets translated into action, the student who joins this year in June may be ready for employment when the industries start looking for engineers.
Notwithstanding the negative IT publicity or the Make in India programme, IT industry will be the biggest recruiter, says Jayaprakash A. Gandhi, career consultant and analyst, pointing out that 70 per cent students join IT or ITeS companies.
He adds that the recruitment and rush for admission will only apply for the top and the second rung colleges and not to the bottom of the pyramid, where the story is completely different.
There are more than 100 colleges in Tamil Nadu that are facing closure as the student strength is fewer than 100.
The poor recruitment has largely to do with the pass percentage in the first year.
There a few engineering college managements that are looking at converting engineering colleges into arts and science institution, he says, referring to a college in Namakkal.
This is because as per the 2014 statistics, for every Plus Two student there are two engineering seats available.
Another analyst says that if the trend continues, there may be a consolidation of colleges as many managements cannot run with fewer students. Mr. Natesan says that he can see that happening in the near future.
Arts and science colleges
Recruiters in industry say they are looking at skills more than qualification in students. A commerce graduate with good accounting or computer skills stands a better chance than an engineering student whose skill sets are average.
A director of a college says that a leading IT company recently recruited 25 commerce graduates.
They say that students of jewellery designing, fashion designing, English, etc. will also find good placements. And, their starting salary is likely to be between Rs. 15,000 and Rs. 20,000.
K. Sundararaman, Principal, Sri Krishna Arts and Science College, says that in the past few years the trends has been that in addition to BPOs and banks, IT companies, pharmaceutical companies, hotels and consultancy firms also visit colleges.
And, the salary the IT companies offer graduates from arts and science colleges is at 70 per cent of what they offer for engineering students.
And, the new development is that mathematics and statistics students are in demand, thanks to demand from analytics companies.
