Higher Education
Colleges in South India
Educational News Today
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Chennai: “Please do not go for Computer Science or IT because the job opportunities are decreasing and it will be worse in four years’ time.” Sounds unusual? It was, in more ways than one.
Not only does this advice from educationist M. Anandakrishnan fly in the face of the conventional wisdom fuelling the rush of students to the software sector, it also appeared in an unlikely format: online chat.
In India’s first such government-organised career counselling programme, over a hundred Class 12 students interacted with Dr. Anandakrishnan in the same way they chat with their friends. Using the language of netizens – “do u think i shd do ece or eee 4 cutoff=192?” – the students asked for advice on the scope of various courses, the reputation of institutions and their prospects in next month’s counselling process.
Sitting in Rajaji Bhavan, surrounded by a crowd of officials from the National Informatics Centre and the state Department of Employment and Training, which organised the session, Dr. Anandakrishnan patiently dictated answers to an official who couldn’t type quite as fast as the experienced GenNext questioners.
“Electronics industry is growing in India…There is a great future for civil engineering…Biomedical engineering is a highly specialised field with limited job opportunities in India…I do not advise you to take up IT,” Dr. Anandakrishnan was very clear in the direction of his advice to students.
Coming from a man who is chairman of IIT-Kanpur and the Madras Institute of Development Studies as well as the former vice chancellor of Anna University, the advice carries weight.
“Students and parents are running from pillar to post to get information on these things,” he said, pointing out that they often got biased advice from institutes, consultants and relatives. “There is no one to give them authoritative, unbiased, true, factual advice. That is where this site [ www.employment.tn.gov.in/chat] can play an important role,” he said.
Labour Minister T.M. Anbarasan, who inaugurated the programme, announced that a similar session via video-conferencing will be organised in September. Such online career counselling offered opportunities for students in rural areas to clear their doubts with eminent education experts in Chennai, he said.
On Thursday, a medical professor will answer questions from 4 to 5 p.m. on the site, while general education will be the theme on Friday.
IT gets a thumbs down in online career counselling
Chennai: “Please do not go for Computer Science or IT because the job opportunities are decreasing and it will be worse in four years’ time.” Sounds unusual? It was, in more ways than one.
Not only does this advice from educationist M. Anandakrishnan fly in the face of the conventional wisdom fuelling the rush of students to the software sector, it also appeared in an unlikely format: online chat.
In India’s first such government-organised career counselling programme, over a hundred Class 12 students interacted with Dr. Anandakrishnan in the same way they chat with their friends. Using the language of netizens – “do u think i shd do ece or eee 4 cutoff=192?” – the students asked for advice on the scope of various courses, the reputation of institutions and their prospects in next month’s counselling process.
Sitting in Rajaji Bhavan, surrounded by a crowd of officials from the National Informatics Centre and the state Department of Employment and Training, which organised the session, Dr. Anandakrishnan patiently dictated answers to an official who couldn’t type quite as fast as the experienced GenNext questioners.
“Electronics industry is growing in India…There is a great future for civil engineering…Biomedical engineering is a highly specialised field with limited job opportunities in India…I do not advise you to take up IT,” Dr. Anandakrishnan was very clear in the direction of his advice to students.
Coming from a man who is chairman of IIT-Kanpur and the Madras Institute of Development Studies as well as the former vice chancellor of Anna University, the advice carries weight.
“Students and parents are running from pillar to post to get information on these things,” he said, pointing out that they often got biased advice from institutes, consultants and relatives. “There is no one to give them authoritative, unbiased, true, factual advice. That is where this site [ www.employment.tn.gov.in/chat] can play an important role,” he said.
Labour Minister T.M. Anbarasan, who inaugurated the programme, announced that a similar session via video-conferencing will be organised in September. Such online career counselling offered opportunities for students in rural areas to clear their doubts with eminent education experts in Chennai, he said.
On Thursday, a medical professor will answer questions from 4 to 5 p.m. on the site, while general education will be the theme on Friday.
Courtesy: The Hindu
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