More students queue up for BA, BSc, BCom admissions: experts

Traditional courses such as BA, BCom and BSc could be staging a comeback during admissions season this year, experts say.

Traditional courses such as BA, BCom and BSc could be staging a comeback during admissions season this year, experts say.

PG Jogdand, dean of the faculty of arts at University of Mumbai, said, “For the past few years, there has been a constant increase of 2-3% in the number of students opting for traditional courses. With the inclusion of 75:25 pattern of examination, students from traditional courses are assigned practical work (for 25 marks). Also, the availability of jobs after completing self-financed courses has become uncertain.”

Factors such as the cost of education and saturation in engineering courses may also be aiding interest in traditional courses. Jayashree Phadnis, principal of Swami Vivekanand College, Chembur, said, “Traditional courses give students leverage to pursue higher studies and can help them get jobs in private firms, multinational organisations and the public sector. Also, with saturation in engineering, traditional courses are catching up the trend. ”

Harsha Mehta, principal of SIES College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Sion, said, “Traditional courses are affordable for students, compared to self-financed courses. Also, students prefer plain BSc courses and opt for research opportunities.”

Some also spoke of an emerging trend of students from self-financed courses switching to traditional courses after completing the first year. “The job market in media, especially, is not very good, which often discourages students from taking up BMM. Sometimes, students tend to switch to traditional courses after a year of pursuing self-financed courses,” Jyoti Thakur, external co-ordinator at Jai Hind College, said.

A student who wishes to pursue a BA in psychology said, on condition of anonymity,” Earlier, I had decided to apply for BMM. But as I came to know from my seniors about fewer job opportunities for self-financed courses, I chose to opt for the BA course., which will ensure a more in-depth study of the subject compared to BMM. However, I plan to pursue my career in media after graduation.”