The charm and glamour associated with Computer Science and Information Technology has gone in the air. The most sought after branch in engineering education has turned out to be the course with least demand in 2013. In Tamil Nadu, rated as a benchmark State in engineering education, there were no takers for nearly 60 per cent of the seats in the offering in this branch.
When the admission process for the academic year 2013 to 2014 was completed last Friday, authorities were baffled by the turn of events. There are more than 525 engineering colleges in Tamil Nadu offering 2,05,268 seats. This year saw 80,689 seats remaining vacant at the end of the admission counselling.
“Computer Science and Information Technology branch turned out to be a big disappointment this year. There were only 15,684 students opting for this branch which till last year commanded big premium in all colleges,” said an official in the Anna University, which coordinated the admission process.
But what is striking is the demand for the mechanical engineering branch. “Nearly 33,000 students opted for mechanical engineering while 25,000 students selected electronics and communication engineering. Civil engineering staged a comeback this year with 19,000 students preferring this branch,” said the official. There was more demand for civil engineering than the CS and IT branch.
Educationists do not agree with the observation that the Information Technology branch has lost its sheen because of global recession and the IT giants cutting down on jobs. “The Information Technology is an ever-expanding area with more and more enterprises and institutions preferring to go digital. Even mid-size retail outlets are depending on computers and programming to rejuvenate their business. So the IT boom is continuing,” P Shankar, the young principal of Savitha School of Engineering, Chennai, told The Pioneer.
Shankar, a mechanical engineer-turned-scientist-turned-professor, said he was happy that students are coming back to the core engineering branches like mechanical, electrical and civil. “No economy in the world can survive without these branches of engineering. Even the setbacks or recession we experienced in our scientific research programmes were due to the fact that most of the brilliant students opted for IT. The IT giants had made irresistible offers in the pay package which were not in sync with ground realities,” said Shankar.
Prof SP Thyagarajan, leading educationist and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Madras, welcomed the slowdown in the mad rush towards the computer science and IT branch.
“The first thing the parents ask when they approach me for counselling in selection of branches in engineering is that how much salary their children could earn once they complete the course. Parental and peer pressure influenced the decision of the students while selecting the engineering branches. I think counselling has started paying off,” said Prof Thyagarajan, who is now the Professor of eminence and dean (research) at Sri Ramachandra University.
Shankar and S Vaidhyasubramaniam, dean planning and development, Sastra University, Thanjavur, said till last year computer science was very much in demand. “But I will not say that CS and IT has lost its demand or charm. Students might have felt that it is better to study the BSc (computer science) in arts and science colleges rather than spent four years in an engineering college. The salary offered by IT companies to young graduates in computer science is the same as what it offered to engineering graduates,” said Vaidhyasubramaniam.
He also pointed out that computer science and IT branch was catching up with many Afro Asian countries. “Remember, the US is on a cost cutting spree when it comes to outsourcing jobs and selection of engineering professionals. This has resulted in a rationalisation of salaries,” he said.
But E Balagurusamy, former Vice-Chancellor of Anna University, Chennai, said he would not consider the CS and IT engineering graduates as engineers. “Those who are hired by the IT giants are not real engineers. They are mere programmers. Our success depends on moulding real engineers,” he said.
The ripples of the views expressed by these educationists are well substantiated by Mohammed Raffiyan, a small entrepreneur at Perumbavoor in Kerala who had come to Chennai in search of an engineering seat for his son. “The first choice is mechanical engineering. If it is not available, we will try electronics and communication engineering,” Raffiyan , a school drop-out told this newspaper.