Osmania University’s Ancient Indian Studies, Culture and Archeology is a choice pick for students aspiring for civil services. But the department lacks experts, labs and associated facilities.
Walk into the first floor of the OU Arts building and one will find an old dusty board which reads ‘Archaeological science department’ with rickety benches, a huge library hall with skeleton rows of books, wide corridors, old doors and ancient fans that creak. It surely gives one the feeling of travelling into the past.
Ancient Indian Studies, Culture and Archaeology was established as the Department of Religion and Culture in 1940 and it was subsequently bifurcated into Department of Indology and the Department of Islamic Studies in the year 1965.
The Department of Indology was later renamed and restructured as the Department of Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology.
Only 42 students pass out each year from the 72 year-old college. The reason behind this is the lack of funds resulting in limitations to expand teaching staff and student strength. Currently,the department has three courses; one MA course and two PG diploma courses. The intake for MA course is only 30 students and for the PG diplomas it is 12 students. Professors complain that they want to increase the intake of students but the financial crunch is restricting their growth.
“There are only five professors in the department. If the university provides us with more teaching staff we can take more students and guide several other PhD students. From our end we are trying to do our best but we need some support from the State and Central government,” says a senior professor Dr V Meena Kumari,
Currently,there are only eight PhD students in the department. In the 5th five-year plan, professors in the department put forth their demands for more funds to set up a museum, get better technology , recruit more teaching staff, introduce new courses and send students for field work but till date have not received any positive notification from the government.
“We want to send our students to excavation sites and give them practical exposure but we cannot as we lack the funds to send them. In fact, to improve the department our students themselves have donated some equipment,” quips Dr N R Giridhar, assistant professor.
Surprisingly, most students who pass out from this college which is listed amongst the top ten colleges in the country land up in government jobs rather than becoming archeologists.
“For most students this is a training ground for further studies. Our course is inter-connected to several other courses. Most of the students after their PG apply for IAS, IFS, civil services and other government related courses. The knowledge that they get about Indian culture and heritage is phenomenal and this helps them get a better score in competitive exam,” said Dr V Meena Kumari, senior professor.
Students on the other hand are not too happy with the teaching method and lectures. “We have outdated syllabus and teaching methods. None of the professors come regularly to college,” complains Suresh P, a PhD student.
Courses offered
PhD
Duration: 3 years
Seats: 10
MA
Duration: 2 years
Seats: 30
PG Diploma in Museology
Course period: 1 year
Seats: 12
PG Diploma in Archival Science & Manuscriptology
Course period: 1 year
Seats: 12
“There are only five professors in the department. If the university provides us with more teaching staff we can take more students and guide several other PhD students. - Meena Kumari, Senior Professor, O.U
No comments:
Post a Comment