Handique Girls’ College

Jan. 6: Handique Girls’ College has added psychology to its list of degree course subjects, the second college to do so after Karmarshree Hitsewar Saikia College.

The college opened a department of psychology last year after having received a huge number of enquiries for seats in the subject for the past few years.

“We thought of the new department keeping in view the requests from students as well as guardians. Most of them have stepped outside the city to pursue certain courses, which are not available here, and psychology is one of them. At present, 30 students are on the rolls,” said Indira Bordoloi, principal of Handique Girls’ College.

Prof Waheed Khan of Jamia Milia Islamia University said psychology as a subject was high on demand because of its relevance to society.

Psychology has specialised branches like clinical psychology, organisational behaviour and social psychology.

Under clinical psychology, students study the nuances of counselling and are absorbed as counsellors in hospitals, schools and various other organisations.

In organisational behaviour, students learn strategies for better utilisation of human resource and consumer behaviour.

Students of social psychology study societal issues and conflict management.

The syllabus for the course has been designed and approved by the psychology department of Gauhati University to which the college is affiliated.

“The syllabus is on a par with the other universities across the country. But we are also suggesting a slight modification for enhancing the syllabus by incorporating organisational behaviour or industrial psychology in the course,” faculty in the psychology department of the college, Bidita Das, said.

“Earlier, several students had faced problems because after having studied psychology as a subject in Classes XI and XII, they found it difficult to pursue a course in the subject in the degree level because none of the colleges were offering it. One can only pursue a Masters degree in the universities. The gap has now been bridged,” she added.

“Students prefer opting for the subject in competitive exams like civil service examination. Apart from industrial psychology, social psychology provides one ample scope to work in social services. With counselling centres coming up in the city, there is a huge demand for clinical psychologists,” Das added.

Besides, one can also research in community psychology, cross-cultural psychology and environmental psychology in Delhi and Bangalore.

“I was very happy to know that the Handique College has introduced the subject. I had the subject in my higher secondary course. The subject is quite demanding with ample job opportunities,” said Luicinya Borchetia.