TIRUCHY: With the process of getting admission to college picking up pace every day since the announcement of board exam results last month, there has been a clear trend of more number of students preferring B.Com over other courses.
According to sources, although a good number of students have shown interest in courses like BA, and B.Sc, the inclination towards B.Com has rapidly gone up this year owing to companies preferring commerce graduates in their recruitment. R Khader Mohideen, Principal of Jamal Mohamed College, said, "There has been a lot of demand for B.Com and several applications have come in this year for just 120 aided seats. The number of applications received in B.Com aided course has gone beyond 1,000."
A professor from a private college in Tiruchy said students opting for commerce have wider options of choosing CA, CS, and MBA after B.Com, which comes with a guarantee of good pay. Several rural students or those from peripheral areas have chosen B.Com as opposed to traditional courses like BA and B.Sc.
The additional value for the course is the job opportunities due to various branches in B.Com course, he added. Even though biotechnology and microbiology are promising and emerging fields in the country, several parents are sceptical about job opportunities.
K Kumar, Vice-Principal of Bishop Heber College, said, "The average percentage of marks in maths and commerce have gone down this year. But, those with good marks in these subjects are showing an inclination towards B.Com, which becomes a reason for the increased cut-off of 99% this year."
Kumar said the total number of seats in B.Com, both aided and self-financing courses, sums up to 300. But the applications they received has crossed 5,000. Mohan Kumaravel, a student opting for B.Com in a private college said, the high cut-off has made his admission to the course doubtful. "My marks are considerably good, but the unexpected cut-off lessens my chance to enter the course," he said.
A private auditing firm in Tiruchy said students from B.Com possess more employability skills and hence the job opportunities. B.Com comes with various add-on subjects like foreign trade, computer application, among others, thus gathering interests among students, sources said.