Wildlife course in Kota varsity a damp squib

KOTA: The first-of-its-kind specialized course on Wildlife Science in the University of Kota has been functioning with a strength of just one coordinator since inception in 2010. The course which has pulled students having exclusive interest in wildlife from across the country, has rarely seen lecturers in the department.
"We have been watching National Geographic from a very young age and hence had developed a fascination for wildlife.We came here to realise our dreams but soon found out there was no future here. No classes happen here on a routine basis. Classes happen very randomly," said Abhishek Singh Chauhan, a student.
A total of 23 students in Ist semester, and some 14 students in III semester gave up other options for their craze for wildlife.
After coming here we all realized we were chasing a chimera. The website of the department of wildlife science shows a number of collaborations, which are totally false, said the students in unison, who had come to meet Kali Charan Saraf, higher education minister, Rajasthan, to give him a memorandum in this regard.
This is true that I am only a course co-ordinator, said Fatima Sultana. Besides this I am working as a senior lecturer at Janki Devi Bajaj College, which is some 13 km away from the department of wildlife science, University of Kota. This department does not have any permanent staff or faculty and we definitely need a team of specialist who are experts on the subject, she said. I am doing my best, but quality and sense of accountability can never come with temporary lecturers. I do agree that at times classes are delayed but we can't expect the temporary staff to show as much commitment as is expected from the regular staff, said Sultana.
This is a very specialized field. The department of wildlife science at the University is deficient in staff that can only provide academic knowledge on scientific basis only when field trips are conducted, said a senior forest official. However, field trips are conducted only during the wildlife week or on a very random basis.
"There are no field tours or labs, and this is not a subject to be taught in a closed classroom. No labs and worst of all no teachers. The teachers, who even come to teach, lack the expertise," said Nitin Bhushan, another student.We have been asked to prepare dissertation but this is used by the coordinator to promote her own image and expertise outside, said a student of Wildlife Science here on condition of anonymity.
Another ex-student of 2013 batch, who's yet to get his degree, said, "Getting a degree without having gained any knowledge on the subject will affect our job prospects for a lifetime."