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NET aspirants ignore UGC-promoted subjects!
BUDDHIST, JAIN, Gandhian and Peace Studies? all areas in which India and Indians have made a mark world-wide and earned the respect of one and all? seem to be at the bottom of the list of our educated youngsters.
BUDDHIST, JAIN, Gandhian and Peace Studies— all areas in which India and Indians have made a mark world-wide and earned the respect of one and all— seem to be at the bottom of the list of our educated youngsters.
If the subject preferences of the candidates set to appear in the UGC NET December 2006 examination are any indication, the youngsters also seem to be shunning subjects being promoted by varsities and the University Grants Commission (UGC) vigorously like Comparative Literature, Performing Arts, study of other languages like Pali, Persian and Arabic besides Human Rights and Duties as well as Social Work.
The good news, however, is that despite the UGC NET no longer being mandatory for appointment as a lecturer in a degree college or a varsity, the craze for the examination is more or less intact— thanks to students vying for the Junior Research Fellowships.
As compared to 5,014 candidates who registered at Allahabad University (AU) for December 2005 exam and 4730 who applied for the June 2006 exams, 4223 candidates have registered for the December 2006 exam which is scheduled to be held on December 17, 2006.
"Details of candidates reveal that subjects like Buddhist, Jain, Ghandhian and Peace Studies along with Comparative Literature are the least preferred with not even a single student opting for them. Many others like Social Work, Arabic, Persian, Performing Arts, Social Medical and Community Health, Forensic Science, Pali and Tourism Administration and Management have each been preferred by a single student only," informed Prof HN Mishra, Head of AU Geography Department and UGC NET Co-ordinator.
Prof Mishra said many other subjects like Human Rights and Duties, International Sciences, Population Studies, Adult Education, Labour Welfare and Sanskrit traditional subject, all being specially promoted by the UGC, too have been opted by very few students with each of these finding just two or three takers.
Analysis of the students registered for the UGC NET December 2006 examination also reveals that one trend that remains unchanged among the candidates is the popularity of History, Hindi and Political Science as the top-most preferred subjects for the examinations.
"Out of the total 4223 candidates, 1135 have opted for History, 551 have opted for Hindi while 424 have preferred political science. History is the top choice of all candidates be it General, OBC or SC/ST," informed Prof HN Mishra.
Prof Mishra further said that Geography, Education, Sociology and Economics are the other few subjects being preferred by the candidates.
"For the December Examination, 344 candidates, including 144 OBC and 78 SC/ST candidates, have opted for Geography while Education has been preferred by 249 students including 82 OBC and 67 SC/ST candidates. Out of the 212 students who have chosen Sociology, 64 are from the OBC category while 55 are from the SC/ST category," he said.
