IGNOU’s recent announcement to introduce four new courses (M.Sc. in Actuarial Science, Post Graduate Diploma in Pharmaceutical Sales Management, Diploma in BPO-Finance and Accounting and Certificate in Hospital Administrative Assistanceship) from July in its curriculum came as a much-needed relief. Especially for those
who believe that such introductions would provide more options to students to choose from, and would counter the Indian students’ annual westward march (number of Indian students in US has increased to 100,000 and in UK by 9.2 per cent in last two years).
“This is not the first time IGNOU has come up with specialised courses, as last year it had introduced a diploma course in folklore and cultural studies from around the world, and even I was excited about it. Guess the process has just started,” opines Gunjan Sangwan of JNU.
Even going by the statistics (approximately 500,000 Indian students spend $7.5 billion annually in foreign universities) one can say that an innovative approach can help India save some outflow of foreign exchange. “Enrolling into obscure universities and community colleges abroad just to have the tag of ‘studying abroad’ is passé, as it’s the love for specialised courses, which is enticing youngsters to go abroad. Though engineering, medical, and management courses still manage to attract maximum students from India, courses in humanity and culture are slowly, but surely expanding their popularity,” opines education consultant Dinesh Dwiwedi.
“I wouldn’t say that Indian universities don’t have a variety of courses, but in terms of specialised courses, there is a definite dearth. Maybe because other than a few exceptions, Indian graduates don’t have that mindset to specialise on a subject before getting a MA. We follow the legacy of British universities and attempts to cross over the syllabus is often not followed,” opines Prof. Tapan Basu of Hindu College.
“I tried finding a course that focuses on world music and visual arts from a global perspective, but failed. Later I decided to apply for a two years MA course in visual arts from Boston University College of Fine arts. I think it’s a good decision as I can also take up a part-time course in their College of Music and as far as getting a job is concerned we all know how Indian companies are hung up on foreign degrees. Moreover, I would gain some exposure too,” opines Manadendra Dutta Baruah, who would be leaving for Boston in August.