Not many takers for M.Phil in the state

In 2014-15, of the 6,712 sanctioned seats for M.Phil, 6,628 students opted for the programme. Academicians say that as per University Grants Commission’s (UGC) revised regulation only a person who cleared National Eligibility Test (NET) or State Eligibility Test (SET) or PhD can become a faculty in a college or university which has deterred many students  from pursuing M.Phil. 

Former Madras University vice-chancellor Prof. SP Thyagarajan said that before 2009, several students joined M.Phil to become a faculty in higher education institutions but after UGC revised the eligibility criteria for appointment of faculty making NET/ SET or PhD mandatory, the preference started coming down.

“Corporates too mostly prefer PhD over M.Phil, which too could be one of the reasons for fewer students enrolling for  M.Phil,” he said. 

Dr. J Gandhiraj, Treasurer of the Association of University Teachers (AUT) said that students think that instead of pursuing M.Phil in one year they could rather go for a full time PhD, which a research scholar could complete in three and half years. “In the final year of postgraduation, some students write NET/ SET to take up teaching as their career. As a result fewer students opt for M.Phil,” he said.