Tamil Nadu   

Produce students who are employable: Ponmudy

COURTALLAM: Universities and institutions of higher and technical education must offer specialised and inter-disciplinary courses to produce students who are high calibre and employable in the highly competitive job market, Minister for Higher Education K. Ponmudy has said.

He was addressing a function at Courtallam on Saturday to mark the launch of three new courses by Manonmaniam Sundaranar University viz. M.Sc. Nano Biotechnology, M.Tech. Nano Biotechnology and M.Sc. Marine Sciences and Ocean Management. Dr. Ponmudy said that even as specialisation had become an essential part of educational system, as mere learning of basic sciences would not give students the much wanted edge over others, inter-disciplinary approach should also be given due importance in the globalised scenario.

While the basic aspects of any subject would give the learner a clear idea about the branch, applied and specialised part of these subjects would teach them advanced aspects. However, the inter-disciplinary courses would give students the much-needed knowledge about vital branches of some more subjects so that the student would be an employable product.

“Since the globalised scenario demands students to be of an inter-disciplinary product, immediate steps must be taken to offer such courses to produce students of international standard. And this is a social responsibility of universities and other institutions,” Dr. Ponmudy noted.

Citing the example of China, which had made strong presence in the international arena in the past two decades, he said that while the medium of instruction could be the mother tongue, Tamil, the medium of communication should essentially be English to compete in the international job market. He urged students to make use of the ‘language lab’ to master English. The Minister also laid foundation stone for the boys’ and girls’ hostel to come up on the university premises at Abhishekapatti at the cost of Rs. 1 crore of which Rs. 75 lakh had been given by the district administration.

The MSU had approved Suganthi Devadason Marine Research Institute (SDMRI) in Tuticorin as a satellite centre to conduct M.Sc. Marine Science and Ocean Management from this academic year. A maximum of 25 students would be admitted in this programme. The students enrolled for the course should pass 12 technical papers on topics such as physical oceanography, fisheries management, biological oceanography, management of coastal mineral resources and integrated ocean management, four elective papers, three practicals and one project.

The electives could be selected from subjects such as Remote Sensing, Marine Bioinformatics, Mariculture, Seafood Processing, Disaster Management and Mitigation, Environmental Impact Assessment, Marine Biodiversity and Socio Economics.

“Since the curriculum designed for this course effectively fulfils the requirements of both domestic and foreign industries dealing with marine science, getting a lucrative job will be a hassle-free affair for students. The project work we are planning to give our students in the fourth semester will give the students an opportunity to work closely with the corporates. Moreover, SCUBA diving has been made compulsory for these students to directly assess marine resources,” said J.K. Patterson Edward, Director, SDMRI.

Assembly Speaker R. Avudaiyappan, Collector G. Prakash, Vice-Chancellor of MSU R.T. Sabapathy Mohan and Registrar R. Chellathurai spoke.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Working for a future fuelled by clean energy
Protect me
To my brother
Bill to regulate courier services soon
A showpiece
Health camp benefits villagers
Nutritious meal scheme for pregnant women launched
Holiday makers
Preliminary work on lignite-based Jayamkondam power plant begins
Altercation over procession
Eye camp held
Bill to regulate private courier services soon
“Trend of combining theatre and politics dates back to era of freedom struggle”
Youth succumbs to injuries sustained in accident
Railway overbridge causes problems for trucks
Stir seeking wage parity turns violent
Produce students who are employable: Ponmudy
One killed, another hurt as earth caves in
Farmers flay restriction in sanction of loans
Introduce new train services, say traders
Ration ice seized
Madras High Court ruling on recruitment of overseers
Indefinite strike
Information about monuments
Cardiologist B.M.Hegde speaks
Therukoothu remains his first love
Mettur level
Poor people resort to ingenious ways
Freak fall
Fatally knocked down
Aradhanai Vizha
2 held with fake IMFL
Accident victim claims he was misled by insurance agent
800 Road Inspector posts will be filled in phased manner: Minister
Jayalalithaa releases aid for freedom fighter
CJI reminds judges of need to follow guidelines
Vaiko foresees Lok Sabha polls before year-end
Manmohan Singh has failed to contain inflation, says Venkaiah Naidu
Due recognition given to martyrs: Karunanidhi
Lt. Governor celebrates Raksha Bandhan
Probe sought into student’s death
Power shutdown on August 22
Bio-diesel plants to be set up
“Know development works”
Mosquito net units in doldrums

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu