Science, the stream once popular and pursued by many students, may have lost quite a lot of lustre, as disclosed by an analysis of the recently-concluded first-year junior college (FYJC) admission figures. To no surprise many seats in the science stream remained empty, and almost allthe seats in commerce were full. The numbers show that for students, the promise of careers in business and finance sector may be more appealing compared to medicine and engineering.
According to the figures shared by Deputy Director of Education (DyDE), a total of 97,435 seats were available for admissions this year, of which 66,692 seats were taken, and 30,743 seats remained vacant.
Significantly, around 40 per cent of the seats in the science stream remained vacant. Of the 39,810 seats available for admissions in science faculty, only 24,089 seats were filled, while on the other hand 15,721 seats were empty. The number of vacant seats in the commerce stream, however, was almost one-third of this count. Out of the 25,845 seats, over 20,000 were filled, leaving 5,310 empty seats.
MeenakshiRaut, Deputy Director of Education, Pune, said, “Till a couple of years ago, medical and engineering were the most sought after courses, that’s why there was a rush to get admission in the science stream…but in the last couple of years, commerce and even Arts (English) streams took over. In fact, last year, barely any seat was left vacant in the commerce and arts faculties, especially in aided colleges, while in the science stream, even aided seats that have lower fees remained vacant.”
“New career opportunities are now in, for example jobs pertaining to GST and other tax systems. Also, as entrance examinations have been nationalised, securing seats in medical or engineering courses has become tougher and it takes longer to prepare for them,” Raut said.