Setting a new trend among students seeking admission to Delhi University colleges, Humanities have scored over Science subjects this year as the students have shown preference for subjects under the Humanities category. Medical and Engineering subjects are no more as appealing as the Humanities subjects in the contemporary times. Over the years, the “prestige” issue of Science over Humanities has declined. Not that the rooted idea of “prestige” in Science students over Humanities counterparts has diminished completely, but the trend has changed a great deal.
One such case is of Syed Imran Hussain, who scored above 90 per cent in Class 12th and got a rank in IIT entrance exam, but he decided to change stream from Science to Humanities. He was left “disappointed” when his friends who pursued professional corses, got placed. However, the disappointment was short lived as Hussain, who is pursuing M.Phil in Geography at Delhi School of Economics and is preparing for civil services exams, got appreciation from them for making right choice.
“I was interested in Geography. I relate to it and understand it. Initially people thought it was a setback for me to shift from Science to Humanities. No one looked at why I took this step even when I scored good marks in Class 12th and ranked in IIT entrance examination... At the point when my friends who completed courses and got placed, I felt disappointed but over the years I realised I am happier and more satisfied than them. They see me and appreciate me for making a right choice,” said Hussain.
“The change in the trend started with people drifting to Commerce for scope in management courses. And with the range of private institutes offering courses in Engineering, aspirants went in hordes to pursue them but eventually realised only a few colleges and institutes had the facility and reputation in the job market. Thus, roads to Humanities were explored,” Deputy Dean, Dean Student’s Welfare, Delhi University Amrita Bajaj told The Pioneer.
“Slowly people realised that these subjects are good career wise and take short time than the long commitment required in making career in Science. Multi-National Companies like Amazon opened platform for language courses as they cater worldwide thus aspirants get placed easily,” she added.
In Delhi University, the competition over cut-offs in Humanities has soared over a period of time. This year, the most popular courses with maximum applications were English (Hons), BA Programme and Political Science.
BA Programme topped the list in number of applications with 1,15,786 applications, followed by 98,294 for BA (Honours) and Political Science with 90,195 applications.
It was followed by Commerce courses, including Economics (Honours) with 82,632, B.Com 82,090, B. Com (Honours) 72,996 applications. History received 79,444 applications. The least applications against Humanities subjects were in Science stream with B.Sc Physics 64,113, BSc Chemistry 67,207 and BSc Mathematics 65,174 applications.
Principal of Hindu College (known for courses in Sociology, Political Science amd History besides Commerce courses) Anju Srivastava said students are more curious to know about issues surrounding them. Civil Services, judiciary examinations and other ventures in the country have opened the gateway to Humanities.
“More avenues open to them with ample job opportunities. They are relating it better with daily life like Sociology and Physiology. They want to know why and what is going around as we are living in an information society now. The fondness is growing to think,” she added.
She added that with these courses, students find is easier to do more. “There was a phase of downtrend towards UPSC but now after focus on toppers in media students are exploring that field more, including competitive exams in judiciary. Along side, these courses allow time management. They get exposed to more diversity,” Srivastava said.
The first cut-off which was announced on Wednesday evening has shown a dip in Mathematics courses while that in Computer Science has dropped drastically. last year, the cut-off of Computer Science (H) was 100 per cent in Centre for Vocational Studies (CVS) and Indraprastha College for Women (IP).
Sri Teg Bahadur Guru Khalsa College (STBG) has improved on its cut-off with English (H) having the highest cut-off among the campus colleges at 98.75 per cent.
The cut-off of B.A Programme course at the STBG College is 97.25 per cent followed by 97 per cent at lady Sri Ram College (lSR). The lSR’s cut-off for English (H) is 98.25 per cent, however, the highest cut-off in the college is for Psychology (H) with 98.50 per cent. Cut-off for Political Science is 97 per cent. Political Science has also been one of the most popular courses in this admission season. The cut-off for this subject in Ramjas is 98 per cent while at Hindu College, it is 96.76 per cent.