Now, techies turn to academics

Unperturbed by layoffs, they register for higher education at universities

As a result, universities have seen an increase in the number applications this academic year.
International Institute of Information Technology-Bangalore (IIIT-B) for the present academic year has witnessed a two-fold increase in the number of applications. Apart from the rise in the number of applications for the postgraduate courses, the quality too has increased says, Prof S Sadagopan, Director, IIIT-B. “With the number, the quality of applicants too has gone up due to the reduction in the scholarships offered by the other countries. All applicants possess Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores. Generally India has not been the destination of choice for postgraduate studies, but this year there has been a significant increase in the PG applications" Prof Sadagopan explained.
More than 2,000 applications were received by IIIT-B in this academic year, for the 120 PG seats at the Institute.

Recession proves positive
Similarly, Visvesvaraya Institute of Technology (VTU) too has seen an increase, in the applications by over 300 percent for the present academic year. H P Khincha, vice chancellor, VTU said that till last year, the varsity received nearly 5,000 applications for M Tech programmes.

“The recession has proved to be positive as the university has received 14,000 and odd applications for the postgraduate programmes this academic year” Khincha said.
Similarly professionals who have been laid-off are seeking Indian universities to pursue the postgraduate studies than going abroad. Prakash S J, a software engineer formerly employed with a multinational company is happy for possessing good GATE and TOEFL scores.
“I wrote GATE about two years ago and had obtained a good score. As I was offered a job just after completing my BE, I was unable to pursue postgraduate programme of my choice. But now, by the time the markets improve, I will be able to complete my postgraduate studies and will be placed accordingly in a better organisation too” pointed out Prakash. 

It was a similar case with Sajitha Cherian, a BPO employee with B Tech as qualification and who was unable to pursue the postgraduate studies. “I was laid-off eight months back. Hence I decided to pursue higher studies in India than other universities abroad. It is financially feasible to study here and more over, Indian Central Institutes are of international standards” Sajitha added.