Where to Go from Here? A Guide to Educational and Career Opportunities / by A K Dasgupta and K J Rao. Hyderabad: Educational and Career Resource Information Centre*, 2001. xxvii, 687p. ISBN 81-88013-00-5. Price Rs. 595.00
Lakhs of students in India every year look beyond the higher secondary level with a sense of awe, insecurity and uncertainty. The parents of these students also remain no less worried thinking about the future of his/her ward. Apart from a few well-hyped courses run by IITs and well-known academic bodies, the students (and also their parents) are mostly unaware of numerous other courses that can easily build up the career of a student. Those who are not fortunate enough to get through the tough joint entrance examinations to secure admission in a top academic institutions in the country need not feel devastated. There is sky beyond the sky. There are ample institutions and courses in our country which they can choose to pursue their higher studies. And this book provides a plethora of information about all institutions and courses _ well-known, moderately known and less known, being run in our country. This is an infallible guide for all students looking for a bright future and a healthy career.
A comprehensive guide only one of its kind, it is more than a directory of educational institutions in that it also presents somewhat a total picture of the Indian educational system with its strengths and weaknesses. The book has two parts with a total number of 52 Chapters. The first part, containing 14 chapters, provides the backdrop of the educational system of the country and covers among others, regulatory authorities, "fake" institutions, distance learning, "invasion" of foreign institutions, degree nomenclature, admission tests, recognition, accreditation and ranking of institutions and courses. The thrust of this part is, apart from facilitating an understanding of the system, to create an awareness about the pitfalls involved in choosing institutions and courses. In the second part, chapters 15-51 deal with educational and career opportunities in 37 broad and narrow disciplines with focus on professional courses. Chapter 52, titled "A Mixed Bag" deals with some of the emerging areas of education and training, and also covers several disciplines which for various reasons could not be made into individual chapters. Twenty-six topics have been included in this Chapter. Information provided for each discipline, includes a brief account of its nature, availability of educational opportunities, entry requirements, selection procedures, career opportunities, and illustrative (and often exhaustive) lists of institutions offering the courses. Additional information has been relegated to 229 annexures. New information, that became available during the printing of the book, has been provided in Update. And finally, the Epilogue presents a survey of educational and career information literature and provides guidelines for developing modest-sized information resource centres in schools. An exhaustive alphabetical index (29 pages) facilitates the location of a specific piece of information.
The book is highly useful for every student studying in higher secondary level or above; every higher secondary school for guiding the students for their future studies; and all other higher academic institutions to guide students in their academic pursuit and to have a good grasp of our higher education system.
* Educational and Career Information Resource Centre (EdCIRC), 503 Paiga Plaza, Basheerbagh, Hyderabad 500 063. Telephone: 6624498, 6624499. Email: jrkaipa[at]yahoo[dot]com
E-Mail Directory of Institutions in India. New Delhi: Virgo Publications*, 2000. 175p. ISBN 81-85870-25-X. Price. Rs. 650.00
The directory lists 2,400 institutions in India. Each entry provides the e-mail address, postal address, telephone number, fax number, Web address (wherever available), and the subject interest of the institution. Entries are arranged in alphabetical order. Includes a subject index.
* Distributor: D K Publishers Distributors Private Ltd., 4834/24 Ansari Road, Darya Ganj, Delhi _ 110002.
Information Today & Tomorrow, Vol. 20, No. 1, March 2001, p.28
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