Need niche courses!

As our business atmosphere grows more global and complex, there is a growing need for many unconventional jobs. And most of those doing many of these ‘different’ jobs learn it om-the-job as there is we still do not an education system in place which recognizes this need for more different courses.

But a cursory look at some of the Universities across India did throw up some surprises. There are indeed courses being offered beyond commerce, science and arts. Some of the very unconventional courses being offered are Tea Tasting and Marketing at Birla Institute of Futuristic Studies, Dipras Institue of Professional Studies, Assam Agricultural University, Indian Institute of Plantation Management.  There is also a course of Pet Grooming offered at a college in Delhi and Bangalore. Film making, editing and scripting courses are on offer by some media houses – Zee and Subhash Ghai’s Whistling Woods. Strangest of all – there is also a courses for ‘Ethical Hacking’ offered by Institute of Information Security, Indian School of Ethical Hacking. Other off-the-beaten-track courses includes archaeology, gemology, Spae Management, Gerontology, Rural Studies, Forest and Wildlife Conservation and one another very interesting course from Maharashtra Institute of Technology (MIT) School of Government (MITSOG), Pune - Leadership program in politics. Strange given the way in which the state is currently mismanaged.

Most of these courses are offered online and come with a hefty price tag. And most of the traditional Universities still have not changed, continuing to offer the same old. And it only once these Universities wake up and recognise these courses that we will see some change in what we study.