Gateways to great careers

Education in Chennai is witnessing a revolution with students discovering new streams that lead to a bright careers.

T.S. SUBRAMANIAN in Chennai

TAMIL NADU is regaining its glory as a centre of excellence in education. At the centre of this process is Chennai, its capital. And thanks to the boom in the manufacturing and construction sector, aeronautical and automobile and textile industries, the development of animation film technologies, a major expansion of the nuclear power programme, and the growth of infrastructure works such as laying of roads and expansion of airports, it is also emerging as a major centre of career opportunties.

"Economic development," says Dr. E. Balagurusamy, former Vice-Chancellor, Anna University, "depends on the manufacturing sector, and not on information technology. By giving a big push to I.T. and the software industry, we are not going to improve the economy because I.T. is only an enabling technology and not a core technology. Today, there is a great demand for core engineers and scientists." He added: "Our engineering education should be re-oriented to giving importance to core engineering disciplines."

There is a growing demand for scientists as well, with national laboratories vying with one another to recruit post-graduates in science disciplines such as Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Botany and Zoology. The Science and Technology policy, announced by the Government of India in 2003, emphasises the need to promote basic research and give importance to recruit qualified manpower and retaining them in order to face the challenges of global competition.

"The scope for students of science is large," says Dr. Susila Mariappan, Director, University Students' Advisory Bureau (USAB), University of Madras. " She points out that 38 laboratories under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) recruited scientists in diverse fields including Chemistry, Leather, Biotechnology, Physics and Aerospace. For this, aspirants had to clear the National Eligibility Test (NET), conducted jointly by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the CSIR. An NET also enables students to become lecturers. The Union Department of Science and Technology offers a number of fellowships to budding scientists.

According to Susila Mariappan, many departments at the University of Madras have, in the last couple of years, started a range of PG courses, which have great job potential. They include M.Sc. in Polymer Science, Bio-Informatics, Applied Plant Science, Industrial Microbiology, Medical Biochemistry, Biomedical Genetics, Environmental Toxicology, Biomedical Sciences, Photonics and Bio-Photonics, Pharmaceutical Biotehnology, Endocrinology and so on. The university also offers an M.S. in Neurosciences, which is popular among students. Graduates in Botany, Zoology, Chemistry and Biotechnology as well as medical graduates could join the course. All these courses are available at the Institute of Basic Medical Sciences on the Taramani campus of the University of Madras. Post-graduate courses in Actuarial Science, Information Science and Spatial Information Technology also have good job prospects.

The Department of Atomic Energy's (DAE) nerve-centre, the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, or the DAE facilities such as the Tata Institute of Fundamental Reseach, Mumbai; the Nuclear Fuel Complex, Hyderabad; the Dr. Raja Ramanna Institute of Advanced Technology, Indore; the Institute for Plasma Physics, Ahmedabad; the Institute of Physics, Bhubaneshwar; and the Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai have openings for talented postgraduates in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Agriculture or graduates in any field of engineering.

"There are many universities, which offer job-oriented courses that are beneficial to students. But information about these courses is not reaching the public," regrets Susila Mariappan. According to her, many students have not heard of Employment News, published by the Government of India, which lists jobs, careers, university examination schedules and gives information on scholarships/fellowships from various Central Departments and Ministries. A one-time advertisement in newspapers about courses does not always reach the students. Television channels are cinema-oriented. "The electronic media should play an important role in publicising information about these valuable courses," she says.

The aeronautics sector is witnessing a boom as never before. There are exciting opportunities with Air India, Indian and the Indian Air Force, which are going in for a massive expansion of their fleet, several private airlines coming up, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) developing a variety of missiles, large industries buying private aircraft and using helicopters for inter-city transport, and the Andhra Pradesh government considering a proposal to set up an aeropark near Hyderabad. Several thousands of crores of rupees are going to be spent on establishing a new airport in Bangalore, expanding the airports at Chennai, New Delhi and Mumbai, and modernising the other airports in the southern region. All these have led to a mad rush to enrol for training sessions to be pilots, aircraft engineers, air-hostesses and flight stewards. Also, air ticketing and tourism management have become attractive options for students. Several colleges, flying clubs and academies offer courses in aeronautical engineering, flying and cabin management.

The following details give an idea about the tremendous opportunities that will emerge in this field. The Government of India has earmarked Rs.15,000 crores this year for research and development, fabrication of components, maintenance and so on in aeronautics. Military and civilian users will spend Rs.50,000 crores in buying aircraft, missiles and helicopters. Another Rs.50,000 crores will be pumped into the expansion and upgradation of airports.

"There is a huge demand for engineers in aeronautics," says Prahlada, Chief Controller, DRDO. "They have a bright future because aeronautics is a multi-disciplinary activity," he says. Engineers in aeronautics can find jobs not only in the civil aviation and the defence sector but in high-speed activities such as trains, speed boats, submarines, air turbine-based power development, and wind tunnels. Aeronautics was applied in setting up windmills too, he said.

An interesting fallout of the boom in the civil aviation sector is that there are many takers for the three-month certificate course in Air Ticketing and Travel Management conducted by University of Madras' USAB. With five-day-a-week classes, the course syllabus covers airfare construction, visa documentation, reservation and cancellation of tickets, handling baggage, hospitality management and travel management. Those who complete the course readily find jobs in airline companies. "The students have good job opportunities. Air-India even pays them a stipend of Rs.3,000 a month for five months during their training period," says Susila Mariappan.

The information technology is burgeoning. Tata Consultancy Services plans to recruit 30,500 personnel this year all over the country. Tamil Nadu will have a major share of these jobs. Infosys, WIPRO and Satyam are all set to grow exponentially in Chennai, and several I.T. companies are places such as Coimbatore and Tiruchi because both these cities are important centres of technological education in Tamil Nadu.

Animation is one field where the demand for jobs has far outstripped the supply. According to Arena Multimedia of Aptech Limited, "animation is among the fastest growing sectors on a global scale and India is not immune to this trend. As per the report of NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Services Companies), the animation industry is expected to witness a Common Application Growth Rate of 8 per cent from 2005 to 2009 and the global market size is expected to be $75 billion by 2009."

Tamil Nadu has been a leader in education in the country with Chennai, Tiruchi, Madurai, Karaikudi, and Coimbatore forming its educational hubs. There are 34 universities in the State. The earliest university to be established was the University of Madras, which is now in its 150th year. Universities in the State range from the traditional ones that offer arts and science courses to those offering technological, law, medical, veterinary and animal science courses. They include private deemed universities, which offer courses in engineering, medicine and management. Gandhigram Rural Institute, which is a deemed university, is in Dindigul district. The Mother Teresa Women's University is situated in the hill station of Kodaikanal. There are also the Tamil Nadu Open University and the Indira Gandhi National Open University.

Chennai alone has 13 universities. They include the University of Madras, Anna University, Dr. M.G.R. Medical University, Tamil Nadu Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Law University, Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Science University, and the Government of India-run Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). The Tamil Nadu Agricultural University is located at Coimbatore. The Tamil University is situated at Thanjavur.

The private deemed universities include the Shanmuga Arts, Science, Technology and Research Academy (SASTRA) at Tirumalaisamudram near Thanjavur; th eVellore Institute of Technology, Vellore; the SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai; th eSri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute at Porur, near Chennai; and the Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi Viswa Mahavidyalaya.

Tamil Nadu has the largest number of engineering colleges in the country. Chennai and surrounding areas alone have 87 engineering colleges falling under four zones.

One of the earliest technological universities to be established in the country is Anna University, Chennai; 230 private engineering colleges situated in different parts of the State are affiliated to it. The University has four constituent colleges. Also affiliated to it are five government-run engineering colleges and three government-aided ones. The nearly 250 engineering colleges that come under private, government, aided and deemed university umbrella has led to the creation of a large talent pool in different engineering disciplines, particularly in IT in Tamil Nadu, according to A.K. Pattabhiraman, who retired as Placement Officer, IIT-Madras. In his estimate, the education offered by these colleges "is the cornerstone in the supply chain and management of the IT industry in Tamil Nadu." Pattabhiraman added, "Information Technology industry is nothing if there is no knowledge manpower. This is the greatest contribution of the educational institutions in the State. The creation of a large talent pool kick-started the IT industry in Chennai because qualified, competent manpower was available."

With India demonstrating its leadership in computer software and IT, projects from abroad have started pouring into India. With foreign firms finding outsourcing cost-effective, a surfeit of I.T. projects offering a few crores of rupees to many hundreds of crores of rupees has come India's way.

The IT boom has led to the construction of more and more cyber parks, middle-class hotels, and apartment complexes; it has also improved infrastructure with airports being expanded and roads being widened and fresh roads being laid. A massive urbanisation of villages around Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore is under way with land being acquired to set up cyber-parks and apartment complexes. The movement of IT engineers between cities has led to a demand for more rooms in hotels. The hotel industry, as a result, is prospering as never before.

"We will be the hub of outsourcing for the entire world. In all these, grid security will play an important role," said Pattabhiraman.

In recent years, Chennai has become a destination for business schools. The Chennai Business School, which was formally inaugurated on July 8, offers a one-year post-graduate programme. The School plans to begin a course in entertainment management next year.

The Great Lakes Institute of Management has quickly made a name for itself. The Institute wants to make marketing a key area of its focus. The Stanfield School of Business, Singapore, has set up a business school in Chennai.

Several thousands of vacancies exist for nurses' posts in the U.S, the U.K. and Germany. But a degree in nursing will not do. Nurses who aspire to work abroad should pass a few other tests, including an English proficiency test.