COIMBATORE:
Many colleges in the region plan to introduce innovative courses in the
coming academic year. Sources at Bharathiar University have confirmed
that several colleges have sent proposals to offer new courses. They
await the approval of the university's Board of Studies which will meet
some time soon to discuss the issue.
Some new courses the university is considering include BBA in Business Process Management, apart from B Com courses in Business Process Systems and Capital Management. In recent years, there has been an increasing demand for the commerce stream. University sources say that these new courses have been designed in association with industrial firms to help improve placement of students. The trend seems to be pervasive among autonomous colleges in the region.
However, many academicians don't condone this trend. Offering courses based on current trends in the workplace will not help students when the demand and supply equation changes, they say. "Education should be broad based such that skills don't become obsolete when trends change. The university should not approve courses that serve only a specific industry," said C Pichandy, general secretary of Association of University Teachers (AUT). Universities should not offer courses based on supply and demand. Presently, many universities are offering courses to cater to the BPO industry, he said. Students opting for these courses will be in trouble when trends change.
Another unethical practise that academicians are concerned about is the changing focus of universities which offer courses for financial gain rather than for furthering the quality of education. According to university norms, a college can have only two batches for a particular course. When a course like B Com is in high demand, colleges want to milk it for what its worth. "Colleges circumvent this university restriction by offering self-financing courses which are variations of a popular course through specialization. Thus the popular B Com degree is dressed up in several ways, catering to specific industries," says Pichandy. In this way, colleges collect high fees, cashing in on the popularity of certain courses. Students are also willing to pay more for such courses, he added. Another cause for concern is that many of these courses fail to get government approval, which is essential for a government job.
Many question the move to allot graduate courses in commerce and management streams when many MBA graduates remain unemployed. Universities continue to offer these courses, because they are cash cows. "Only courses that promote employability should be offered," said S Sivasubramanian, former Vice-Chancellor of the university.
Some new courses the university is considering include BBA in Business Process Management, apart from B Com courses in Business Process Systems and Capital Management. In recent years, there has been an increasing demand for the commerce stream. University sources say that these new courses have been designed in association with industrial firms to help improve placement of students. The trend seems to be pervasive among autonomous colleges in the region.
However, many academicians don't condone this trend. Offering courses based on current trends in the workplace will not help students when the demand and supply equation changes, they say. "Education should be broad based such that skills don't become obsolete when trends change. The university should not approve courses that serve only a specific industry," said C Pichandy, general secretary of Association of University Teachers (AUT). Universities should not offer courses based on supply and demand. Presently, many universities are offering courses to cater to the BPO industry, he said. Students opting for these courses will be in trouble when trends change.
Another unethical practise that academicians are concerned about is the changing focus of universities which offer courses for financial gain rather than for furthering the quality of education. According to university norms, a college can have only two batches for a particular course. When a course like B Com is in high demand, colleges want to milk it for what its worth. "Colleges circumvent this university restriction by offering self-financing courses which are variations of a popular course through specialization. Thus the popular B Com degree is dressed up in several ways, catering to specific industries," says Pichandy. In this way, colleges collect high fees, cashing in on the popularity of certain courses. Students are also willing to pay more for such courses, he added. Another cause for concern is that many of these courses fail to get government approval, which is essential for a government job.
Many question the move to allot graduate courses in commerce and management streams when many MBA graduates remain unemployed. Universities continue to offer these courses, because they are cash cows. "Only courses that promote employability should be offered," said S Sivasubramanian, former Vice-Chancellor of the university.
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