It’s official. The state’s obsession with the ‘engineering-medical dream’ is finally fading. City students once never dared to dream beyond these two streams, but the trend seems to have changed. The new crop of students have discovered an array of options in the last one year. Be it arts, life sciences, mass communication or psychology, the number of applicants for what were once considered offbeat subjects, have doubled. Blame it on recession or the need to break the monotony, but the fact remains that the educational scenario in the city is witnessing a shift in perspective like never before.
Statistics put up by Osmania University reveal a 105 per cent increase in applications for journalism, a 61 per cent increase in literature applications, while the number of students opting for offbeat courses like library sciences have increased by 84 per cent. Social work which hardly had any takers till recently has a record 95 per cent increase this year.
Unconventional is the new cool when it comes to subjects, say youngsters. Sindhuri M., who graduated from Little Flower Junior College, says, “I’m applying for literature and my parents are quite supportive. They agree it’s lucrative now to think out of the box. In fact, none of my friends wanted to do the same ol’ engineering course and be a part of the crowd.”
The economic scenario too seems to have taken a toll on courses which had become a rage in the recent past. While applications for 2008’s hottest course —retail management — saw a 25 per cent decrease this year, there was a 32 per cent decrease in takers for international business management.
The current trend marks the revival of arts in the city, say experts. Prof. D. Venkateswarlu, head of the English department in OU, says, “This change in pattern is heartening. Even during recession, arts students have found good jobs in content writing, abstract writing, public relations, teaching, language training et al.”
The commercial scope in the arts stream is luring even engineering, MBA and computer science graduates to go back to school to snag a degree in arts or social sciences. B. Ramakrishna, a B.Tech graduate, says, “There are no jobs for engineers, so I decided to pursue my interest in mass communication. There is a sea of opportunities for journalism graduates and I want to make a smarter choice this time.”
Deeptha M., who applied for a degree in psychology couldn’t agree more. She says, “I opted for this course because these days a qualified child psychologist earns more than an average engineer. Moreover, it is much more challenging.”
Courtesy:Deccan Chronicle
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