: Over 1,000 students pass out every year in the district with geography as a key subject in the higher secondary course in humanities.
However, not a single college under any university in the district offers higher studies in geography.
Not less than 25 higher secondary schools have Plus Two courses in the humanities section with Geography as a paper.
No favourable decision
The issue had been brought to the attention of the university as well as the political authorities.
“But no favourable decision has been taken yet,” said N.K. Saleem, general secretary of the Calicut Geography Teachers Association (CGTA).
Subjects such as Economics and History, which are the other disciplines pursued by humanities students in their higher secondary course, have a number of higher studies options with several colleges offering undergraduate courses in these disciplines.
“Only geography, which is an equally relevant subject, gets ignored,” said Mr. Saleem, who emphasised the importance of the subject even for preparations for civil services examinations.
The Government College at Chittur in Palakkad is the nearest government institution that offers a degree course in Geography.
However, the distance between Kozhikode and Chittur often dissuades many from seeking admission there.
“This is all the more for girl students,” said Mr. Saleem.
According to him, there are several job opportunities for those who complete higher studies in courses such as Geographical Information System (GIS).
In the absence of proper higher studies options, many students switch to other disciplines such as English literature and history after Plus Two .
“This is a sad situation,” says Muhammed Najah, a Plus Two humanities student at the Chennamangalur Higher Secondary School here.
“This is when even competitive examinations, including the Public Service Commission, have fixed percentage of questions from geography,” said Najah, who is one of the few students selected from the district to ‘Pathfinder,’ a civil services preparatory programme for higher secondary students under the Education Department.
The district has a sub-centre of the State Civil Services Academy functioning here.
Students undergo training programme at the centre while pursuing their undergraduate programmes.
“With no colleges offering a degree programme in geography, how are we to undergo a civil services training programme along with our graduation here?” asks Najah.
Several job opportunities for geography graduates
Competitive exams have questions from geography
