KOCHI: Not many students who have gained admission in non-science courses in Class XI are happy. That’s because they are still trying to get into the most-sought after science stream. Those schools who are offering humanities are biting their nails in worry. The Government Sanskrit H S S school in Tripunithura, which offers only humanities, is one of them.
School authorities blame the parents for this. “We face an uphill task in convincing the parents to let their child continue in the allotted streams of humanities and commerce. They rush to get subject-change or school-change after the first allotments. At this stage, the students neither know about the courses nor the career opportunities they present,” says Nalinakumari, principal of Government Girls, Aluva.
The usual rush for biology and maths still reverberates through all the schools. Those who have been allotted commerce, humanities and computer application are running from pillar to post to ensure their seats in ‘better’ courses.
However, teachers say, the demand for the commerce stream is growing. At present, humanities is the least preferred stream, with the students, who fail to get into the other courses, being allotted to it.
Niju K Velayudhan, the principal in charge of the Government H S S, Mudakuzha, says, “This attitude towards social science subjects varies from place to place. In fact, humanities actually enables average students to score really well in their higher secondary exams. This is something I have witnessed over the years. But even after conducting a number of orientation programmes for the parents, they are still not convinced.”
According to the head of the Council for Higher Education of Kerala T P Srinivasan, commerce is becoming the most in-demand course. He says, “Many shy away from humanities because they believe other courses give them multiple job opportunities. Some students take up humanities to pursue a career in various research-oriented programmes, while others take it up to escape from maths.”
According to the Directorate of Higher Secondary Education, the number of seats for all streams in the merit category is 51,034, while a total of 4,96,347 aspirants have applied for the first allotment.