Few takers for Master of Social Work despite boom in NGOs

COIMBATORE: Voluntary sector with a wide-ranging variety of non-governmental organisations may have emerged as a major employer across the country, but there are not many takers for courses offering training in social work. The absence of applicants has forced a major college in the city to rethink its Master of Social Work (MSW) programme.
MSW, which was in high demand till a few years ago in many of the city colleges, has fallen out of favour lately.L Ranjith, head of the department of social work at a leading college, said in recent years he has seen a decline in the demand for MSW course. "Last year, out of the sanctioned strength of 50 seats, we filled only 14 seats. This year as of now, we have not yet got any applications," he said.
Though admissions to post graduate programmes will pick up steam only after the degree results of Bharathiar University are announced, some colleges have already started receiving applications for the master programmes. Specialisations including in community development, medical psychiatry, personnel management and industry relations (PMIR) are offered for MSW students.
So, why has MSW ceased to attract students despite the proliferation of NGOs and the expansion of the voluntary sector? Is it a case of lack of jobs or low remuneration?
Deepthi J, who graduated in the year 2010 from a prominent city college, said many of their batch mates are still struggling to find well-paying jobs. "Most of our job opportunities are in the voluntary organisations. The majority of them do pay less than Rs 10,000 even after a few years," she said.
J Paranjothi Ramalingam, head of the social work department at the Amrita University, agreed that doing the course may not fetch high salaries compared to jobs available for engineering and management students. "In most of the voluntary organisations, the starting pay be anywhere between Rs 6,000 and Rs 10,000," he says. But Paranjothi added that after a few years of service, pay packets rise significantly.
However, some MSWs said the wait for a job with a decent pay is becoming endless. V Sam, who graduated five years ago said the specialisations they are offered, face stiff competition from other fields. "Industry prefers MBA graduates with specialisation in HR (human resources) to PMIR, and post graduates in psychology than an MSW graduate with specialisation in medical psychiatry. So the best option will be community development, but this is a field where the pay is low," he said.
U Sujeesh, who is working as the head of the training department of a major business firm in the city, finds fault in the teaching. "Most of the time, the teachers are not well qualified and the students are not given enough practical training," he said. Students must be made fluent in English and the concepts, he feels.
N Vanitha Rangarajan, chairperson of Sharanalayam which runs centres for HIV-affected and the aged, said though they get many applicants from MSW graduates, most of them are not qualified enough. A quick scan of NGOs revealed that many of these offer salaries ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 to beginners and, later, hike the salary based on performance. Some employers complain that most of the graduates lack specialisation and training in soft skills.
A city-based psychiatrist said social work graduates who have specialised in psychiatry do not have a grasp of the subject. "They learn only few papers on psychiatry and lack clinical training. So even though there is plenty of demand for clinical psychologists, we cannot recruit these people to the posts," he said.
An MSW graduate contended that though the course includes plenty of field visits, camps and other activities which make it a lively experience, it lacks specialisation. With well-paying jobs not easy to come by, apart from government and aided colleges which offer MSW, those running self-financing colleges where the course fee run into lakhs are apprehensive if they will be able to fill the seats.