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The Hindu
3 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Patriotic fervour and gaiety mark Independence Day celebrations in Madurai
Patriotic fervour and gaiety marked the 79th Independence Day celebrations in Madurai district on Friday. Agrofood Chamber of Commerce and Industry president S. Rethinavelu hoisted the national flag at the Agro Food Trade Centre. He said that Madurai must be immediately added to the list of Indian tourist cities recommended by the Civil Aviation Ministry for the unlimited air services between ASEAN Countries. At Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, its president N. Jegatheesan hoisted the national flag on the chamber premises. He said that Madurai Airport expansion project should be completed expeditiously. He added that a Global Investors meet should be held in Madurai. Tamil Nadu Foodgrains Merchants Association president S.V.S.S. Velshankar hoisted the national flag on the association premises. He said encroachments along the Vaigai river should be removed and the projects announced for Madurai should be completed expeditiously. He added that the Metro Rail project for Madurai should be extended till Melur. The American College Principal Dr. J. Paul Jayakar hoisted the tricolour on the college premises and spoke about the martyrs who fought for the freedom of the country. SBOA schools Madurai celebrated the Independence Day with Lt. Col. Sreekant, Administrative Officer 7 TN Battalion NCC, Madurai, hoisting the national flag in the presence of Principal L. Latha Thiraviam. Nadar Mahajana Sangam S. Vellaichamy Nadar College celebrated the Independence Day with M. Nallasivam, Member of SVN Kalluri Peravai hoisting the national flag. Principal J. Easter Jothi hoisted the national flag on MEPCO Schlenk Higher Secondary School premises. Principal-in-charge Dr. B George hoisted the national flag at Madurai Kamaraj University College. Independence Day celebrations were held at Mannar Thirumalai Naicker College and Al-Ameen Higher Secondary School. Principal Commissioner of Income Tax Madurai T Vasanthan hoisted the national flag on the office premises. The Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation Managing Director V. Saravanan hoisted the national flag at the TNSTC office here in the presence of senior officials, trade union office-bearers and others. On the occasion, 34 employees were honoured including drivers and conductors, maintenance team of engineers. The fuel efficiency of the vehicles and the drivers came in for special mention by the top officials. Children of the employees, who had secured top marks in the tenth and plus-two public examinations were also given prizes. GM Gopalakrishnan and others participated.
The Hindu
11-05-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Students make a beeline for innovative job-oriented courses
With the Class XII examination results released recently by the School Education Department in Tamil Nadu, students and parents have begun the arduous task of filling application forms for their preferred courses in colleges of their choice. With the advent of innovative courses to cater to the needs of changing global trends and job criteria, the urge to dive deep into a subject has gone down, say academicians. The new courses, mostly related to computer science, data science and Artificial Intelligence, are preparing students for a well-paid job in the Information Technology sector. Due to the influence of the booming tech sector, student preferences in choosing courses in arts and science colleges appear to veer towards job-oriented subjects rather than those offering scope for higher education, they add. While the interest for conventional subjects such as Math, Physics, English and Chemistry, among others, has witnessed a dip, interest can be seen shifting more towards integrated courses such as Computer Science + AI or Data Science and similar courses, says D. Pandiaraja, Principal, Thiagarajar College, Madurai. 'In order to specifically satisfy students who approach the college with such interests, we have launched courses such as B. Com Fintech [Finance+ Technology], B. Sc Computer Science + AI, B. Com with value-added courses,' he adds. The learning, which was earlier restricted to only the core subject, has widened to include all related topics to meet the job recruiters' demands. 'To understand this, it is essential to see how many students opt for higher education after getting their undergraduate degree and how many of them apply for placements,' he further says. More than half of the students in colleges applied for placements in the recent academic year and that itself shows how the interest has shifted more towards jobs and less towards higher education, he adds. Echoing a similar view, a staff of Fatima college says that students approaching colleges for admission clearly state their need for an integrated course to able to satisfy the market needs. 'Their expectation for such courses stems from their research on courses available across the country and abroad. Though their interest is appreciated, colleges in the State are yet to adopt such modern subjects and courses.' But, to fulfil their needs, colleges have started adding certificate courses or skill-based training to their curriculum, the staff adds. N. Jegatheesan, secretary and correspondent of Nagarathinam Angalammal Arts and Science College, says the trend was partly due to the revival of engineering subjects due to a boom in the global market. 'As the engineering colleges were shutting down earlier in the decade due to insufficient employment opportunities, there was a rise in arts and science colleges.' The arts and science colleges, which have been on the rise since then, could not produce students qualified enough to fit the roles in companies and academia, Mr. Jegatheesan says. Understanding the need for subjects that will meet the market needs, he says he introduced courses that were approved by the Board of Studies. Some courses such as B.B.A. Digital Marketing, B.B.A Aviation Management, B. Com Block Chain and Fintech, B. Sc Cloud Computing and Cyber Security, B. Sc Data Science and Analytics, B. Sc Artificial Intelligence, B. Sc Animation and Game Designing, B. Sc Forensic Science, which are hardly available in colleges in southern districts, are providing instant jobs for students following their completion. Seven students, who graduated from B.B.A Aviation Management course, got placed in Madurai airport itself, he says. When employment seems to have taken over the interest of pursuing a subject deeper into the level of research, it is appropriate to have industry-specific courses. When courses such as B.B.A. Hospital Management are going to help a rural student get a good paying job, the higher qualifications are just going to add to their standard, he adds. S. Vanathi, Principal, Meenakshi Government College for Women, says: 'Though the conventional courses are less preferred by students, Tamil is being preferred for entering into government jobs.' As the Tamil Nadu government has announced reservation and preference for Tamil-medium students and those who learn Tamil in college, many wish to get jobs by using the subject as a leverage. Another preferred subject is B. Com General as it helps students in clearing the National Eligibility Test and State Eligibility Test. Principal and Secretary of The American College M. Davamani Christober says the shift towards professional courses started after the Covid-19 lockdown. 'As students learn about the perks of being in a professional course rather than being in a course that demands longer duration even during their school days, they get clear in what they want,' he adds. P.B. Prince Gajendra Babu, general secretary, State Platform for Common School System-Tamil Nadu (SPCSS-TN), says the global job market is creating a hype to bring in more labour rather than skilled employees. 'Students should learn physics and math as foundation courses and then the specialisations should be learned.' When the specialisations are taught as an UG course without any foundation, it puts a gate block to their academic development. Further, creating a labour force for a good pay can not create experts and scientists which is the need of the hour. Another important problem with specialisations such as AI is that private institutions in the State do not have the necessary faculties and curriculum to produce qualified students in the field. Data science and AI as technology are just applications that can be applied only when the foundation is strong, Mr. Gajendra Babu adds. Government programmes such as Naan Mudhalvan, instead of blindly educating students about the available courses in colleges, should give a detailed overview of the higher education scenario, he feels.
