Students opt for Biology to study genetics, research

J. Ajeeth Prasath Jain, senior principal, Bhavan’s Rajaji Vidyashram in the city said that their school had seen a 15 per cent increase in number of enquiries from students for Biology stream in class 11 for the ensuing academic year. 

“I think in the past Biology group students had MBBS as their only option but today they have several other options like genetic engineering, stem cell research and other fields emerging as newer areas for their career. These newer areas could have also interested students making them look for Biology stream in Class 11,” he said. 

Adding to Jain’s opinion, B. Purushothaman, Correspondent, Everwin Group of Schools pointed out that his school witnessed about 20 per cent increase in demand from Class 10 students for Biology group in Class 11. 

“We have 120 seats in Biology stream and we have received over 200 enquiries so far, from which one can assess the demand for that stream compared to others like Computer Science and Commerce,” he said. 

Noting that those who prefer Biology in class 11 could join both medicine as well as engineering in undergraduation, Purushothaman said that this could be one of the reasons why students prefer Biology group. “If they don’t get a top medical college to pursue MBBS, they may go to one of the top engineering colleges to study B.E, that’s the advantage Biology group students get,” he said. Commenting about the trend, career counsellor and academician Jayaprakash A. 

Gandhi said that nowadays students want to keep their options wide open for which they select Biology stream in Class 11. “Students are enquiring about courses like agriculture, fisheries and veterinary as they also want to join these courses apart from the traditional MBBS and BDS programmes,” he added.