Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

`Home Science is no more gender specific'

Staff Reporter

`Curriculum should be formulated according to the needs of the industry'

COIMBATORE: Home Science has integrated different faculties into it, making it more life-oriented than just home-oriented, said G. Pankajam, former Vice-Chancellor, Gandhigram University, here recently.

Presenting a paper on "Changing Perspectives in Home Science" at the 104th birthday celebrations of T.S Avinashilingam, Founder of the Avinashilingam Education Institutions, she said this branch of study opened up multiple career avenues for students of nutrition, hotel management, interior designing and human development. "It is no more gender specific."

While it was also deeply linked with other disciplines such as chemistry, environment, and craftsmanship, home science offered several branches of specialisation.

Parvathi Easwaran, former Dean, Faculty of Home Science, Avinashilingam University, who presented a paper on "Home Science - Past and Present," said that the curriculum should be formulated according to the needs of the industry.

"Home Science colleges should include more of practical training rather than teaching theory in isolation," she said. Colleges should equip students not only with skills but also attitude as corporate companies gave a lot of importance to the attitude of the job seekers.

They should also go into the market, study its needs and modify the curriculum accordingly, she added. Encouraging innovative ideas among students and motivating them to consider self-employment were also equally important.

"We should encourage students to think in terms of product development and modify our research also on those lines," she said.

Rural welfare was given importance during the initial years of the development of the subject. But, the focus was becoming less rural-oriented, she observed.

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