Job market dynamics take sheen off MCA course

Scores of seats of the Master in Computer Application (MCA) course are going vacant in many colleges of the State. It is going the way of the BTech and MBA (Masters in Business Administration) courses, which are finding less takers these days. However, most of the seats going vacant in MCA are the private management seats. Even in a top institute like PES Institute of Technology, Bangalore, the number of takers for MCA decreased a great deal this year. "There are a total of 120 seats in MCA in the college. Out of this, as many as 85 seats have been filled. We are hopeful that the rest of the seats will be filled,” said a source in the college. The decrease, according to the faculty member, has been quite sudden. Till last year, the college filled 118 seats out of 120. Situation no different In other colleges, the situation is far worse. The SJC Institute of Technology, Chikkaballapur for example, has filled only 20 to 25 out of the total 60 MCA seats, according to a source in the college. "From the current market trends, it seems there are no jobs in the market for those passing out of the course. It is no wonder that there are such less takers for it,” said a source in East West Institute of College of Technology, Bangalore. "There are 120 seats in the institute, out of which less than half have been filled,” the source said. In the Dr Ambedkar Institute of Technology, Bangalore, only half of the total 60 MCA seats have been filled as of now. Rough estimates suggest that there are around 10,000 MCA seats in the State. Out of the 5,424 government MCA seats, almost 4,518 have already been allotted, according to the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA). Lateral entry The government made way for lateral entry into second year MCA from the academic year 2013-14, as per the directions of the AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education). Accordingly, any BCA or BSc (Information Technology and Computer Science) student who studied mathematics as a subject either in the higher secondary or the undergraduate level will be eligible for lateral entry. However, colleges in the State, which are already reeling under the problem of less enrolment, are wary of the latest move. "The government’s notification has come too late. We have already conducted one and a half months of classes. How will things be worked out at this point of time?” asked a MCA faculty member in a reputed college in the city. K E Prakash, registrar of the Visvesvaraya Technological University, (VTU), was of the opinion that the lateral entry scheme would result in a number of problems in the next year. "Why will students join the first year and go for a full three-year MCA course when they can directly join second year?” asked Prakash. The KEA will conduct an entrance test for the lateral entry. The dates for the same are not yet finalised.