Chennai: Janani D, a student from SRM Easwari Engineering College, graduated with two degrees simultaneously. She stated that her first degree from the college provided theoretical knowledge, while the second, an online degree in data science and applications from IIT Madras, equipped her with technical expertise. These two degrees helped her secure a job in her very first interview.
As many as 3,500 students from across Tamil Nadu are currently pursuing the data science programme as a second degree, including 2,234 students from city campuses. Janani remarked, "The college and faculty were helpful. I was able to handle projects and assignments for both courses simultaneously and completed them in four years."
IIT-M's Online Programme Gains Popularity
Two batches from IIT Madras have graduated with a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree, and around 36,000 students are enrolled in this online programme. Professor Vignesh Muthuvijayan, in-charge of the data science programme at IIT-M, explained, "We focus on skills after teaching fundamentals. The course also has multiple exit points, including foundation, diploma, and degree levels. In this course, students can acquire skills required for full-stack developer and data scientist job profiles, which will help them during campus placements."
UGC Policy and Institutional Responses
A year ago, the University Grants Commission (UGC) allowed students to pursue two degrees simultaneously—one in regular mode and another in online mode. However, due to lack of approval from state universities, many colleges reported that students were only interested in short-term skill-oriented online programmes.
Lilian Jasper, principal of Women's Christian College, noted, "Many students who enrolled in online programmes joined our college last year. However, after a few months, many of them quit their online degrees as they found that pursuing a regular degree is more demanding." On the other hand, S Vaidyasubramaniam, vice-chancellor of Sastra, observed, "More students pursue online skill-based courses as colleges can allocate time for these courses within the curriculum."
