The trend of opting for traditional streams like medical or engineering after Class X has re-emerged this year with most schools having announced the closure of admission to Class XI in the Science stream. Perks like job security and getting armed with a professional degree are said to motivate students to choose the stream over Humanities and other vocational subjects.

On the sixth day of admissions on Wednesday, there were hardly any seats left in the Science subjects of the total 3,218 seats in government schools.

This year, parents seem to be dictating the choice of subject their ward is to study and most say they have gone for “regular” subjects.

“It is vital that instead of completing her Class XII with some Arts subjects, my daughter studies Science. Taking up non-medical will ensure that her job horizons broaden. Though she was keen to take up Economics, I thought otherwise,” said Parkash Sahni, a parent.

The grim placement scene owing to the economic slowdown notwithstanding, parents feel that Science streams spell job security.

“Science is a professional stream and chances of my son getting a job become brighter after studying the subjects so I have asked him to choose the non-medical stream,” avers Ranjana Sharma, a parent.

Despite the argument that medical students take a few years to settle down, a secure career has made medical stream a popular choice among parents. “I agree that an aspiring doctor takes a long time to have a stable career but at least one’s job is not at risk. Though many jobs were lost during the ongoing economic meltdown, doctors were relatively safe because they had their private clinics to fall back upon,” said another parent Pritpal Singh.

... contd.