Pure science courses that did not have many takers in the past few years are now back in demand with many students opting for them at the undergraduate (UG) level.
Several colleges in the city have noted a marked increase in the demand for pure sciences in UG courses as career opportunities have increased. Many colleges are also increasing their intake for science streams this year.
Experts also feel that this spike can be attributed to a slump in engineering jobs. They also feel that with the advent of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), the race to obtain a medical or dental seat has become tougher. While commerce remains the most sought after stream, the admissions in many colleges for undergraduate programmes as a whole has seen a two-fold increase.
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For instance, at Government Science College, as many as 754 students have been admitted at the UG level this year, compared to last year where 550 students were admitted. K. Ramakrishna Reddy, an associate professor in the college, said that today, there were numerous job opportunities for students who opted to study pure sciences.
The trend is reflected in government, aided, and private colleges.
Pooja Shenoy, who completed her second pre-university this year, said, “Initially, I was looking at medical and dental options. As my NEET rank was not high, I had chosen an engineering seat in the first round of the seat allotment process. Later, I decided to take up a B.Sc course as I learnt that the career opportunities after this are likely to be better,” she said.
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Sr. Arpana, principal, Mount Carmel College, said the demand for science courses had increased after the advent of NEET.
M. Prakash, Director of Studies, Seshadripuram Group of Institutions, said science courses were seeing a rise in demand as B.Sc graduates were getting as many job opportunities as their peers in engineering colleges. “The salaries being offered too are the same. Science graduates are getting jobs as programmers, software developers and in life sciences as well,” he said.
Karisiddappa, Vice-Chancellor, Visvesvaraya Technological University, said that several engineering colleges had informed him of a dip in admissions this time compared to the previous year. “This is because employment opportunities have become lesser. There is a stark difference between the demand and supply,” he said. Prof Karisiddappa said that one way to tackle this was to re-skill engineering graduates and attune them to current global market trends so that the job opportunities increase on this front too.