No-win situation set to spell doom for postgraduates!

By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, Nov 2: A no-win situation is set to spell doom for the life of hundreds and thousands of students who keep coming with M. Sc and Ph.D degrees in Environmental Science from Gauhati University, Assam University and Tezpur University every year. Such students literally have no job opportunities in the job market in the State that has not been taking this issue seriously over the years for reasons best known to it.

Around 150 members of the North East Environmental Science Students' Association (NEESSA) staged a dhar in front of the Directorate of Higher Education at Kahilipara in the city today demanding the State government to solve the problems being faced by students with degrees in Environmental Science.

According to NEESSA coorditor Dipankar Debth, candidates with degrees in Environmental Science have little job opportunities in the job market as the subject has not been included as an optiol subject in any of the competitive examitions, barring that of Forest Ranger. "Following a verdict from the Supreme Court of India in 1992, followed by a directive from the UGC, Environmental Science was introduced as a compulsory subject in all degree colleges and higher secondary schools in the State in the academic session 2004-05. Strangely enough, the subject is being taught by teachers from other disciplines. This is because no Environmental Science teachers have been appointed in any of the 304 colleges and higher secondary schools in the State that have this subject, let alone opening any Environmental Science Department among the science colleges in them. The need of the hour is to create sanctioned posts of Environmental Science teachers. We have sent repeated memorandum to the Directorate of Higher Education and the State Education Minister, but to little avail."

Debth also rued the fact that the 'SLET Commission is yet to include Environmental Science as a subject for State Eligibility Test (SET) in all the Northeastern States. "We made repeated pleas to the SLET Commission to include Environmental Science as an optiol subject in SET, but to no avail."

Debth further said: "The Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) also has not included Environmental Science as an optiol subject in the competitive examitions it conducts, barring that of Forest Rangers. We demand of the APSC to include Environmental Science as an optiol subject for all competitive examitions it holds."