Bhubaneswar, July 20: If the number of application forms received by the English department of Utkal University is any indication, then the subject seems to have fallen out of favour. With just 266 forms for 40 seats, the department has received 40 forms less than last year.

Teachers of the English department are worried and have been trying to figure out the reasons behind this “significant fall” in applications.

“The way English is taught in degree colleges, students don’t see the relevance of studying the subject at the post-graduation level. Even the intake for English honours is very less,” said Kalyani Samantaray, head of English department.

“The setting up of Central University of Orissa in Koraput district could be another reason. That is why we have seen a considerable drop in the number of applications from students in southern Orissa this year. Moreover, students seem to be attracted more towards professional courses,” she said.

Samantaray said the department is planning to change the syllabus to make it more focused and market-oriented. Even the question pattern, which used to be generalised, would be made more analytical and specific. “We are planning to conduct awareness programmes for teachers of degree colleges to make them realise the market potential for English and that would ultimately percolate to the students’ level. Orissa is waking up to translation in a big way and the students of English have a bright future,” she said.

An English lecturer of a city-based college agreed with Samantaray. “Most teachers don’t mentor students and tell them how English can feed into the expertise of other subjects. Majority of students come to college with a preconceived notion that the subject is not their cup of tea,” said the teacher.

On the other hand, the Oriya and Sanskrit departments have seen an unusual rise in the number of application forms. This time, 369 candidates have applied for 64 seats in Oriya as a post graduation subject in comparison to 276 last year.

“Most applicants are graduates from colleges in the capital. But I don’t see any definite reason why we received nearly 100 more applications. It is premature to infer that Oriya is on a revival mode,” said Narayan Sahoo, faculty member of the Oriya department.

He added students opted for Oriya at the post-graduation level as a last resort. “The first preference of students is subjects like history, political science, economics or sociology. It is rare to find students who are genuinely interested in Oriya. Other than teaching profession, there is not really any employment opportunity for them,” said Sahoo.

He added students were still attracted to Utkal University as the quality of teaching was far better than Ravenshaw University, Cuttack since it does not have a professor or reader in Oriya, but only lecturers.

With 337 applications, the Sanskrit department has received 77 forms more this year.

“We were surprised since most of the applicants with first division marks have chosen Sanskrit as their post-graduation subject. The reason behind this is the creation of classical teaching posts in all districts by the state. The minimum qualification is master’s degree in Sanskrit which might have caught the interest of students,” said Parambashree Yogamaya, Sanskrit lecturer at Utkal University.

She said many enrol for post-graduation with an aim to get into the Siksha Shastri degree midway. After getting this degree, they can secure jobs in central schools. Sanskrit is also taught in most Asian and American universities.