Humanities: A study in unpopularity

CHANDIGARH: In their heyday, courses in arts and humanities attracted the maximum number of enrolments, with students clamouring to be masters in political criticism and sociological thought. But the golden era probably ended with growing competition and depleting job market.
Indicating a worrying trend, Panjab University has seen a declining interest in social sciences, so much so that the institute is thinking in terms of cutting the number of seats for these post-graduation courses.
According to information, the number of applicants for masters programmes, including philosophy, sociology and political science, have almost halved over the past couple of years.
������The cut-off percentage of these courses has gone down drastically. Reducing the number of seats by 10-15% will help maintain quality education,������ said a chairperson of one of these departments. Sources said the department of sociology received approximately 650 applications for 60 seats for its MA course in 2006. In 2008-09, the number came down to 425. Similarly, while 250 students applied for 60 seats of MA political science in 2008-09 session, the figure was much higher at 550 in 2006. The situation is no different at the department of ancient Indian history, culture and archaeology, which has 40 seats in MA-I course. Witnessing a drastic cut, the department - which had to choose from amongst 350 applicants in 2006 - had merely 100 students interested in pursuing the course this time. The department of public administration too remained rather unpopular.
Among others, philosophy has also lost its sheen among the present generation. The number of students seeking admission went down from 450 in 2006 to 250 in 2008. Surprisingly, there are only six students in MA-II (philosophy), while MA (I) has 21 students against a total of 35 seats.
Talking to TOI, president of Panjab University Teachers��� Association NK Ojha said, ������The younger generation prefers to take up career-oriented courses because of numerous job options ahead. Though programmes in humanities have social relevance, students concentrate on professional front.������