Professional courses overtake regular degree courses

Established in 1975,the Bandodkar College of Science is the only single faculty college in science stream affiliated to the Mumbai University. This college has seen days when there was rush for regular degree course in science that had any of the three subjects from physics,chemistry,botany,zoology,mathematics and statistics. Akolkar recalls how there used to be a long merit list for regular science. But now,students can simply walk in for getting admission in regular science course. “There are no merit lists now. Since we are reputed and one of the old institutions in Thane,we are getting the desired strength to keep the show running,” said Akolkar.

It is not just Bandodkar College,but other institutions are also witnessing a similar trend. Dyansadhana Degree College,which was established in 1983 for catering to the students from economically poor background,is also registering a surge in demand for unaided professional courses. The college offers courses in Computer Science,Banking and Insurance,Accounts and Finance,Bachelor of Mass Media (BMM),Bachelor of Management Studies (BMS). “We have been offering these courses since the last five years and response is tremendous. The numbers of students who apply for these courses is four to five times the number of seats available,” said Dr G B Vishe,principal,Dyansadhana College.

“The students prefer professional courses as they offer better employment opportunity. We have noticed that during campus interviews,firms seek students of professional courses. Specialisation in any given field is preferred over a general course,” said Shakuntala Singh,principal,K G Joshi & N G Bedekar College of Arts & Commerce. She added that currently the colleges are facing difficulties in running regular courses as strength of the students is declining regularly.

Joshi-Bedekar College,being the first degree college of Thane city established in 1969,now boasts of three divisions of BMS with each having 60 seats. Besides courses on banking,accounts and financial marketing,the college offers BMM and Bachelors degree in Library Science.

Dinesh Panjwani,principal of Smt Chandibai Himmatmal Mansukhani (CHM) College in Ulhasnagar,however disagrees that the unaided courses are a threat to the regular courses. “The students seek these professional courses due to peer pressure,their popularity and employment opportunities. But this does not mean that those graduating from regular courses are not getting job opportunities,” said Panjwani. The CHM college,one of the largest colleges in the Mumbai University in terms of student’s strength,offers eight unaided professional courses,and the applications received are 15 times its capacity.

Dr Naresh Chandra,principal of Birla College at Kalyan summed up the trend saying the unaided professional courses are “need based and career oriented”.