Mita Mukherjee

As many as 60 to 75 percent seats in mathematics, physics and chemistry at several colleges in Bengal are vacant though the process of admission of students in the undergraduate courses for the 2024-25 session ended nearly two months ago.

Interest in science subjects has been on the wane for some years now with students preferring to pursue courses that have better job prospects. But according to many colleges this year the demand for science seats appears to be “very low.”

The growing inclination among students not to study science raised concerns among institute heads and senior teachers, many of whom are of the opinion that meritorious students who had the knack did not show interest to study the subjects this year because of not developing a clear concept about the subjects while studying them in school.

Some academics said students who have taken admission in the undergraduate courses this year had studied Classes IX, X, XI and XII during the Covid in 2020 and in the following years.

Schools in Bengal like institutions in the entire country experienced one of the longest school closures in the pandemic and students had to be offered teaching through online mode in multiple phases even during the immediate post Covid years.

According to teachers a bulk of the students were not able to access online classes because of lack of proper electronic devices and financial problems. Many students did not attend online classes for not having internet access. As a result schools were unable to teach the science subjects in the way they are supposed to be to students at the high school level.

“Students start developing interest in the subject they want to study in the higher classes when they are in Class IX, X, XI and XII. It is during this phase of their education, young students start realizing which subject would be difficult for them and in which subject they would be more suitable to pursue higher studies. The 2024 batch of students who took admission in first year undergraduate courses this year were in classes IX, X, XI and XII between 2020 and to 2023. They had to study science subjects in school mostly through online classes. They hardly attended practical classes. Project work in which a lot of field work is required was also done at home. This had an impact on the students. They did not understand the concepts well and failed to  develop an attraction to study core science at a high level. As a result, most students were not willing to study core science in college,” Siuli Sarkar, principal of Lady Brabourne College told EducationWorld.

Jaydeep Sarangi, principal of New Alipore College said 75 per cent seats in physics, chemistry and mathematics in his college are vacant this year.

“The trend was evident even last year. The impact of Covid is one of the reasons but the low enrollment in science subjects is also because more students are now opting job-oriented courses,” Sarangi said.

  A senior official of the state higher education department said there are fewer takers in core science everywhere in Bengal. “We are trying to explore the ways to arrest this trend,” the official said.

However, the seats in biological sciences and computer science are satisfactory, the official said.

Also read: Science, Arts most popular streams over last 10 years, commerce has stagnated: MoE