The demand for ‘job-oriented’ undergraduate programmes offered by affiliated colleges of Mahatma Gandhi University (MGU) seems declining.
Many such courses, which had shown a downward trend over the last three years, have only a few takers this time too.
Going by the varsity’s Centralised Allotment Process (CAP) for the new academic year, the option count for nearly 70 programmes was less than 1,000. They included language courses with specialisations in select areas and ‘tailor-made’ programmes.
Some courses that failed to attract option registration from not even 1,000 students include BA Malayalam Language and Literature Model II Copy Writing; BVoc Banking and Financial Services; Bachelor of Business Management; BSc Botany Model II Food Microbiology; BSc Food Technology and Quality Assurance; BA Animation and Visual Effects, and BVoc Food Technology and Analysis.
300 registrations
As many as 34 courses failed to earn an option registration count of more than 300. A few of these programmes are BSc Apparel and Fashion Design; BVoc Industrial Instrumentation and Automation; BVoc Printing Technology; BVoc DTP and Printing Technology; BVoc Renewable Energy, and BA Corporate Economics.
Among language courses, there were not many takers for BA programmes in Arabic, Tamil, and Sanskrit. The option count for BA Arabic Language and Literature Model II course was only 38, while only 31 candidates chose Tamil Language and Literature Model I programme.
While 80 candidates opted for Sanskrit (Special) Nyaya Model I, only 68 students went for Sanskrit (Special) Jyothisha Model I. Vyakarana and Sahitya had 79 and 109 takers respectively.
The university authorities attributed the decline in demand for courses to lack of facilities in its affiliated colleges.
Moreover, the absence of trained faculty remains a drawback in filling the gaps in the teaching-learning process. Most programmes are under the self-financing mode and lack facilities that match the fee collected from students, they said.
