MADURAI: With the coronavirus affecting countries across the world, stepping out does not seem like the safest option for both parents and children. As a result, the arts and science colleges in the district received an increased number of applications when compared to last year.
The New Indian Express spoke to a few principals of renowned colleges in the district and they confirmed the development.
Principal of American College, M Davamani Christober, said that last year, the college received 25,000 applications, including both for aided and self-financed courses.
This year, there is a huge demand for conventional courses like Economics, Physics, Chemistry, Botany, and Zoology.
At present, the college has received more than 1,000 applications for each conventional course, he added.
He further stated that from August 3, online classes will start for final-year UG and PG students through Google platforms. All the teachers have been given the training to handle the online classes, he assured.
Principal of Thiagarajar College D Pandiaraja told Express that last year they received only 23,000 applications.
However, this year, within a week of publication of class XII results, they received that number of applications.
“We received more than 800 applications for conventional courses though only 60 seats are available,” he added.
Likewise, Principal of The Madura College J Suresh said that till now, 4,300 students have applied for aided courses.
Of this, 2,000 applications were for BCom. Last year, around 4,000 applications were received for aided courses, he added.
Parent of Class XII pass-out Raghavan said that he wanted to send his son abroad for studying medicine.
Considering the present situation, he preferred keeping his son near him.
“I made him apply for basic science courses at colleges in the city. I may think about other alternatives only when the situation becomes normal,” he said.
The students too echoed the same sentiments. "I wanted to join the Microbiology course in SASTRA Deemed University for my UG. However, my parents are scared to send me out of the district. Hence, I applied for the same course at the colleges within the district,” said Swetha, a student.
However, like previous years, students preferred BCom over BA, and English literature for their UG. Similarly, applications for BSc and computer science were more than those for Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry.
Number of applications received:
American College - 25,000
Total number of applications received - 12,300
Aided courses - 13,700
Self-financed courses
Aided courses (UG)
BCom, aided course: 3,900
BA in English: 1,500
MSc in Maths: 250
MSc in Physics 260
Self-financed (SF) courses (UG)
BCom (five branches): 3,200
BA in English: 900
BSc in Computer Science: 1,800
BSc in IT: 800
BCA: 1,000
Thiagaraja Arts and Science College - 31,183
Total Applications received - 20,500
Aided courses - 10,68
Aided courses
BCom: 3,800
BSc in Computer Science: 2,900
BBA: 1,600
BA in English: 1,700
BSc in Maths: 1,400
Self-financed courses
BCom: Over 2,000
BCA: 830
More than 800 Applications received for each science courses