At NED’s Open Day, ‘big disciplines’confuse prospective engineers

Karachi
There was a buzz at the NED University of Engineering and Technology on Monday.
The varsity administration had opened up its premises for prospective students and their parents to let them explore its myriad of departments and attend various career-orientated sessions.
As teachers and professional guides shared their views regarding the prospects of different disciplines, Muhammad Swaleh, among the hundreds of talented students who cleared the admission test, stood confused about which department to choose.
“It’s quite confusing now. I have cleared my intermediate examination with 79 percent marks, but it doesn’t seem that I would be able to get a seat in big disciplines,” said Swaleh, who completed in intermediate from the Government Delhi College and scored 63 marks out of a total 100 in the entry test of NED University.
As per the university’s policy, any candidate scoring more than 50 percent marks in the entry test is allowed a place in the merit list.
However, the merit list is determined on the basis of marks obtained in intermediate or equivalent foreign examinations.
Explaining the term “big disciplines”, Swaleh said the departments of electrical, mechanical and software engineering were considered as the best and almost everyone hoped to be admitted in them.
“Like the Big Three in cricket, they are the ruling disciplines and ensure job security and good earnings,” he said.
A final-year student of the department of computer information and systems (more popularly known as CIS), Omama Ansari, who graduated in 2012, said there was a grave dearth of student counselling for nascent engineers.
“It was very confusing for me when I had to choose my engineering discipline in the university,” he said. “I was scored 79 percent marks in inter but it wasn’t enough to get me in what we call the big disciplines. Unfortunately, the definition of big discipline is attached with job security and students do not know much about the nature of disciplines and their core subjects. My parents could afford the fees so I applied on self-finance basis, but I still could not get admission in electrical or mechanical engineering.”
He believed students were compelled to move according to the market and trends and their personal choices were not encouraged by family members.
“There was a time when the local telecommunication industry experienced a boon and was termed as a big discipline in the NED culture. Many students wanted to get in the telecom department despite having no interest in the field,” he said. “As soon as the boom ended, the discipline lost its charm and now very few students opt for it.”
He made point out that the country’s education system and over social behaviour only produced job seekers and students were treated as robots.
“We are unable to produce engineers who can design robots,” he said. “It is because we are actually turning them into robots themselves who can’t think out of the box.”
Salik Yousuf, a passed-out student of the department of electrical engineering, said he had received his degree last year but even after seven months he hadn’t been able to get a job.
“Many of my batch mates are now working in the industry, but a few of us are still jobless despite receiving the degree from one of the most prominent disciplines of the university,” he said. “It’s not the department, but your skills and efforts that help you land a job. I lacked in learning the core concept of the field and did not experience practical work during the student life. Now I am facing tough times.”
He said some his friends who got degrees from “small disciplines” were already working.
A professor at the university commented that he hadn’t been able to get admission in the NED University after his intermediate, so he joined the Dawood University of Engineering and Technology for his graduation in electronic engineering.
“I didn’t have the required percentage of marks to get admission in my choice of discipline, either big or small,” he recalled with a smile on his face.
“I wonder why our students consider departments of civil, material, chemical, biomedical and architecture as secondary or ‘small disciplines’! It’s all about your interest and skills that help you distinguish yourselves in any field.”
The professor, who chose to remain anonymous, after completing his graduation had applied for the masters programme in electronics at the NED and got admission in the course of Micro System Design.
“There were only 15 seats available and I left behind many NED graduates to secure my place in the programme,” he said.
He advised students not to lose heart if they do not get admission in the discipline they want.
“Engineering is more about learning innovation and quick methods of problem solving. It’s your hard work and skills that make you a good engineer, not the so-called small and big disciplines,” the professor said.
According to him, only 2,563 seats were available at the varsity and thousands of candidates were competing for it.
“Our socio-economic conditions demand an increase in the seats at the university and a simultaneous but massive expansion in the local engineering industry so new engineers are absorbed in the market. The government should also help promote entrepreneurs introduce new ideas and businesses.”