Recently, many of my students contacted me for advice on which option to choose in 11th standard. All confused minds!! They all knew one thing for sure that they want to do engineering and only Computer Science stream. Thanks to the IT sector booming in India, it has heightened the expectations of the youngsters to that level, that they do not see any other field except computers, IT. These are the buzz words. Thus, they all have to concentrate on PCM!! (Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry)
With IT companies giving such attractive remunerations, who would not think of it as the first option, or may I say, the only option!! The common notion being, spend 4 years in an engineering college and lo! land up in an IT job and then life is set. The best thing is the youngsters are absolutely clear of this path. I guess our awareness level was less compared to today's school girls and boys.
I wonder how much of this will hold true after 5 years? Is the scene going to remain the same? IT sector has definitely opened up lots of opportunities for today's youth and has given the confidence to the youngsters that they can procure job acquiring certain skills. The rest they manage once they enter the jobs. But will the vacancies be as many as it is today?
Back to the confusion of the students. In order to give complete concentration to PCM, should they opt for engineering drawing, physical education, economics, computer science? Surprisingly, the top of the order is won by physical education followed by engineering drawing and then computer science!! The explanation of the order being pretty obvious.
Most of the students have enrolled in FIITJEE or Brilliants for preparation for IIT. With pressure of clearing CBSE boards after two years and to be the top ranker in the engineering entrance tests, can you blame them?
What should be the best advice to my students and all such students of today? Are there any other avenues besides IT? Can they look beyond computer science engineering? What are the various allied courses for which they can explore?
