CHENNAI: In a first, Presidency College in Chennai is set to introduce a Master’s degree course in the State exclusively for deaf students. Currently, the college has B Com and Bachelor in Computer Application (BCA) courses exclusively for such students. Students can apply for the course from September 16 to September 23 till 5 pm.
R Raman, principal, Presidency College, said it was a longstanding demand that led to launching the course. “Since we offer a B Com course for deaf students, there were demands to start M Com as well. Subsequently, we approached the State government and got the sanction,” said Raman.
College officials said only a few colleges in the country offer such a special master’s degree course for deaf students, and added that the college will now look to recruit more teachers trained in sign language.
The course will offer 40-50 seats and the strength may be increased in future based on demand, the officials added. The B Com course in the college exclusively for deaf students has 60 seats.
Meanwhile, an exclusive hostel for students with disabilities is under construction on the campus with an aim to up the enrolment of such students.
The college officials said the new course may also help the college improve its NIRF ranking as it will fetch more marks in the ‘inclusivity and outreach among students’ category.
Presidency College was ranked the third best in the country in NIRF rankings this year.