The Advantage of knowing English

English gets a career boost
OUR BUREAU
English has won top honours among admission-seekers this season, with the demand for teachers in the subject in south Asian countries and West Asia spurring the scramble to study Shakespeare.

“The number of applicants for English honours has almost trebled in the last three to four years. This year we have received 3,100 applications for just 60 seats,” Father Felix Raj, the principal of St Xavier’s College, told Metro.

Seats in the English departments of other colleges in the city are also in demand. The average annual increase in the number of applications is 700 to 800.

“English teachers are now much-sought-after in countries like Japan, China, Thailand and the UAE, which has raised the demand for English honours among students here,” said Father Felix Raj.

Ananda Lal, the head of the department of English at Jadavpur University, confirmed that better job prospects abroad had contributed to the subject being the clear favourite in the humanities stream.

“We receive a lot of enquiries about our students from West Asia and Singapore. There is a demand for English teachers in those countries, and India definitely fulfils that need,” added Lal.

Jadavpur University has received around 2,700 applications for 50 English honours seats despite raising the cut-off mark in the subject from 65 to 70 per cent.

Teaching is not the only option for those who study English literature. The basket of career opportunities now available to English honours students is the key behind the popularity of the subject,

“Students do not want to narrow down their career opportunities from the beginning. After three years of studying English, they can explore various options,” said Lal.

With campus recruitment becoming the norm even in the arts stream, students of English are being snapped up.

English graduates from Presidency College and Asutosh College have been getting offers not just from media houses and HR firms, but also in IT and other businesses.

“There is a huge demand for our English graduates in companies like Cognizant Technology Solutions, Tata Consultancy Services, IBM and Wipro. Good job offers have perked up interest in the subject,” said Dipak Kar, the principal of Asutosh College.

Asutosh received 1,600 applications for its 70 seats this year, 51 of which were snapped up on the first day of admissions. “I don’t think we will need to bring out a second list,” said Kar.

At Presidency, the number of applicants has increased from 1,800 last year to 2,500 this season.

Debalina Banerjee, the head of the department of English at Presidency, attributed the rush to rising awareness about career opportunities.

“The opportunities for English graduates are not restricted to media and academia. Students have become aware of this,” said Banerjee.

According to her, even students applying for seats in engineering, physics, chemistry and economics consider English a second option.

It helps that Calcutta University has no strict rules for applying. “English does not need qualifying marks in related subjects. That helps,” said John Abraham, the principal of Scottish Church College.

The above is from the Telegraph of 20.06.2009.

This is another answer to the likes of Mulayam Singh, Swami Ramdeo and the other leaders of The Hindi Speaking of North India who are trying to impose Hindi in the guise of Nationalism.

English has become as much an Indian language as any other recognized Indian language in the India.
After Hindi, it is the most widely spoken and understood language throughout the length and breadth of India.
It is English which has allowed India to become leaders in the IT and BPO services.
Why remove the advantage which the British have given us while ruling over us for 300years.
English is the most widely spoken language of business and commerce on the Earth.
The Communists destroyed Bengal's educational advantage by removing English from the primary and secondary level in government schools while they themselves sent their children to English medium schools.
The 3-language formula which was prevalent in India upto the 60's is the best.
Allow children to study three languagss.
Mother tongue, Hindi and Englsih.
For Hindi speaking states any other Indian regional language should be compulsory.
English should be taught from Class 1, itself.
Unless we follow this system, we will soon lose the advantage we have over the Chinese , Japanese, Philipinos and others

Radheshyam