The new wave of humanities

Professional courses were always perceived as ‘ready-to-work’ prototypes. For a long-time, polytechnic colleges and vocational training institutions ruled this occupational domain. Eventually, many private diploma colleges outpaced state-run institutions, and soon after that, engineering colleges took over the educational realm of diploma courses.

Social Science and Humanities shrank in the whole process and were not a priority for both the college management and students. Worse, they were seen as a programme that train students only for teaching jobs.

We have come full circle since then and these programmes, in their new avatars, are increasingly patronised by private institutions. However, these courses might face the fate of other disciplines if not pursued with the right intent and don’t offer necessary skill set.

Over time, some professional programmes lost their importance mainly because of their poor quality. Every employer I have interacted with expressed displeasure on the quality of technical education. Still they have good demand in the job market.

But there are hardly any placement offers for Humanities graduates. This is where the gap between industry and classroom should be addressed. There is a need to induce specific skill orientation in the courses offered throughout the Humanities and Social Science programmes.

Applied vs theory

It may not be possible for all the Arts, Humanities programmes to fit skill orientation. However, many fields such as media, economics, psychology and social work could be aligned to the job’s objectives. For instance, Fine Arts students could be seen working with architects, graphic designers, and even in filmmaking.

Similarly, the dearth of professionals in public health, de-addiction centres etc reflects the immediate needs of society. Are we training our young psychologists in this direction?

The University Grants Commission funds programmes like Bachelors of Vocation (BVoc) in Media, which is intended to train students in Multimedia, Design and Animation related areas. The beauty of the BVoc programme is in its multiple entries and exit options. A student could discontinue the course by the end of the first year of the Bachelors, still securing a year’s diploma certificate. The topics of this programme range from Broadcasting to Paramedical to Web Analytics.

Common traits

The basic expectation in most of the Humanities and Social Sciences students are standard across programmes. However, broad communication skills may not be sufficient for all occupations. Hence, one sees many specialised institutions sensing the industry’s need and branding themselves as trainers in Public Relations, Journalism, Digital Marketing, Advertising, HR, Data Analysis through statistical tools, Banking and Finance, and many more.

Some of these training institutions engage practitioners as adjunct faculty in their classrooms.

These courses are considered credible by students if offered through regular Humanities programmes by established public institutes. However, the state-run universities are still stuck with traditional subjects like History, Political Science, and Sociology. Unfortunately, numerous affiliated colleges under the government universities are also forced to teach outdated syllabus and some haven’t changed in the last 20-25 years.

I was informed that a set of my mass communication students recruited by a media company were given training in understanding Economics and Business Journalism. Similarly, non-media students were trained in developing writing skills.

The exercise helps students from different disciplines work in various job roles even if they are not trained for the same in college.

There is a need for an interdisciplinary approach while developing the curriculum to utilise the opportunities in Humanities and Social Science efficiently.

(The author teaches Broadcast Media)