Even though the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur is gearing up to branch out into offering medical courses, choosing to become a doctor or an engineer is now considered a staid and boring career choice. Following the internet boom and the opening up of new horizons, more and more young Indians are straying from the beaten path. Many are choosing to move away from the horrors of cut-offs for routinely sought after disciplines and looking for courses that hold relevance in the new global economy as well as cater to their interests.
Many major universities across the country have also been introducing newer courses every academic session, keeping in mind the demands of a fast changing job market. This year is no different as universities seem to have taken a cue from recent happenings – ranging from the Nepal earthquake to regular news items about website hackings – while introducing new courses.
We present a selection of some of such recently introduced courses.
Managing disasters
Even as India played a crucial role in extending help to Nepal after the recent earthquakes, the unfolding events underlined the need for better disaster preparedness. Seeking to fill the acute shortage of trained manpower, the Jamia Milia Islamia in Delhi is launching a one-year diploma course in disaster management from this academic session. The course is open to students from all streams. Jamia also plans to develop a model corridor in the Himalayas to give students hands-on experience in mitigating disasters such as floods and earthquakes in a simulated environment. However, the university may want to tread the path carefully, as the Mumbai University’s course on disaster management failed to take off even after eight years as it was unable to attract enough students.
Bend it for yoga
Call it the effect of the publicity received by the International Day for Yoga. Courses in yoga studies are seeing a spike in the number of applicants this year. In some universities in Ahmedabad, such as the Lakulish Yoga University, admission numbers are reported to have jumped almost six times this year. Given this new buzz about yoga, many other universities, such as the Mysore University, are also planning to introduce full-fledged courses from the next academic session. Similar diplomas and degrees offered by the Lucknow University are also picking up steam, given a steady rise in the employment opportunities in the field, according to an instructor at the university. For the digital generation, Mangalore University is offering yoga classes to students worldwide through distance education with tests and lectures conducted online.
Get paid to hack
Indians hold the record for reporting the most bugs and vulnerabilities to Facebook as part of its bug bounty programme year after year and bagging thousands of dollars. It is only fitting for a country with a thriving information technology industry to be good at cyber security and produce ethical hackers. However, not all of them are ethical, which is why there's a need for cyber security experts in almost every technology company these days. This has resulted in demand for professionals in the field growing by up to 3.5 times faster than other IT-related jobs in the world, and the trend is catching up in India as well. To cater to this demand, many universities have come out with their own cyber security courses. Gurgaon’s ITM University has rolled out a two-year master’s degree in cybersecurity this year while NIIT has been conducting a three-months long course on ethical hacking since last year.
Ga-ga over radio
If talking and music excite you, then radio jockeying might just be the thing for you. Career opportunities in radio broadcasting in India are fast improving as the medium reaches more and more towns in the hinterland. In a first for distance education courses, the Tamil Nadu Open University has announced its certification course in community radio technology from the upcoming academic year. The course will cover all aspects of the job, from handling broadcast equipment to jockeying on air.
Get happy
Irrespective of career aspirations or age, a certification in happiness is unlikely to hurt. The Indian School of Business has teamed up with Coursera.com to present a new course titled “A Life of Happiness and Fulfilment”. This six-week-long self-paced course is based on emerging scientific research, particularly from an area called "positive psychology" and commenced just a week ago. It is accessible to anyone with Internet access for free.
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Many major universities across the country have also been introducing newer courses every academic session, keeping in mind the demands of a fast changing job market. This year is no different as universities seem to have taken a cue from recent happenings – ranging from the Nepal earthquake to regular news items about website hackings – while introducing new courses.
We present a selection of some of such recently introduced courses.
Managing disasters
Even as India played a crucial role in extending help to Nepal after the recent earthquakes, the unfolding events underlined the need for better disaster preparedness. Seeking to fill the acute shortage of trained manpower, the Jamia Milia Islamia in Delhi is launching a one-year diploma course in disaster management from this academic session. The course is open to students from all streams. Jamia also plans to develop a model corridor in the Himalayas to give students hands-on experience in mitigating disasters such as floods and earthquakes in a simulated environment. However, the university may want to tread the path carefully, as the Mumbai University’s course on disaster management failed to take off even after eight years as it was unable to attract enough students.
Bend it for yoga
Call it the effect of the publicity received by the International Day for Yoga. Courses in yoga studies are seeing a spike in the number of applicants this year. In some universities in Ahmedabad, such as the Lakulish Yoga University, admission numbers are reported to have jumped almost six times this year. Given this new buzz about yoga, many other universities, such as the Mysore University, are also planning to introduce full-fledged courses from the next academic session. Similar diplomas and degrees offered by the Lucknow University are also picking up steam, given a steady rise in the employment opportunities in the field, according to an instructor at the university. For the digital generation, Mangalore University is offering yoga classes to students worldwide through distance education with tests and lectures conducted online.
Get paid to hack
Indians hold the record for reporting the most bugs and vulnerabilities to Facebook as part of its bug bounty programme year after year and bagging thousands of dollars. It is only fitting for a country with a thriving information technology industry to be good at cyber security and produce ethical hackers. However, not all of them are ethical, which is why there's a need for cyber security experts in almost every technology company these days. This has resulted in demand for professionals in the field growing by up to 3.5 times faster than other IT-related jobs in the world, and the trend is catching up in India as well. To cater to this demand, many universities have come out with their own cyber security courses. Gurgaon’s ITM University has rolled out a two-year master’s degree in cybersecurity this year while NIIT has been conducting a three-months long course on ethical hacking since last year.
Ga-ga over radio
If talking and music excite you, then radio jockeying might just be the thing for you. Career opportunities in radio broadcasting in India are fast improving as the medium reaches more and more towns in the hinterland. In a first for distance education courses, the Tamil Nadu Open University has announced its certification course in community radio technology from the upcoming academic year. The course will cover all aspects of the job, from handling broadcast equipment to jockeying on air.
Get happy
Irrespective of career aspirations or age, a certification in happiness is unlikely to hurt. The Indian School of Business has teamed up with Coursera.com to present a new course titled “A Life of Happiness and Fulfilment”. This six-week-long self-paced course is based on emerging scientific research, particularly from an area called "positive psychology" and commenced just a week ago. It is accessible to anyone with Internet access for free.
