: The ‘job-oriented’ courses offered by the affiliated colleges of Mahatma Gandhi University seem to be losing its appeal going by the declining number of students opting for it in the new academic year.
Twenty six courses out of the nearly 106 undergraduate courses under the varsity’s Centralised Allotment Process (CAP) had less than 50 candidates opting for it as their first choice. Curiously, this year’s online registration witnessed a sharp decline in demand for courses like marketing management and retail management. Majority of these courses were offered under the self-financing mode. As per the official estimates made by the admission wing, only five students selected marketing management and IT as their first option while a meagre three candidates chose retail management and IT as their course of choice.
Six programmes in humanities witnessed dwindling interest. Only 19 students selected the course in careers and communication skills while those who opted for the copy editor programme as their first choice was 34. The undergraduate programmes in Information Technology and areas like microbiology and food processing technology and logistics management also witnessed a slump.
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“Only one lakh out of the five lakh students, who pass the plus two examination, opt for university education in the State. They prefer taking up a vocational course that can offer them a job and good salary at the earliest,” said Dr. Kuncheria P. Issac, vice chancellor of the Kerala Technological Universityand former Member Secretary of the All Indian Council for Technical Education.
“Parents and students may also analyse whether they need to take up a job-oriented course under the university system by paying higher fee compared to the regular programmes,” he added. Experts in technical education pointed out that these ‘job-oriented’ courses have failed to understand the market demand and also the skills required for each job.
“I remember an interesting case when Canada faced shortage of coast guards. The authorities entrusted the community colleges there to prepare a diploma programme that would address the issue. The course was dropped after they got the required manpower,” said Dr. K.P.P. Pillai, former executive secretary of the Indian Society for Technical Education.
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