Comments about MCA Programs

In a couple of my articles I have expressed my reservation about the MCA program. These are the only comments which have attracted some criticim to me so far. And some of that criticism has been rather harsh. Hence I thought I will explain my comments regarding MCA program here.
First of all, let me clarify one thing. I think there is something wrong with most of the MCA programs today. It does not mean that MCA programs were always bad. Of course, people don't like to be told that the program that they did 10 years ago is no longer doing as well, and they still will be unhappy about my comments (and certainly I am endearing myself to people who are doing MCA today), but hopefully the explanation here will reduce the feeling of hurt that these people have after reading my articles.

MCA was a historical necessity till the late 90s. Our IT industry was growing very fast, and our education industry wasn't moving that fast. It wasn't easy to start lots of engineering colleges, and have huge admissions in each of them, as a typical BTech program requires a lot of different labs, a lot of different disciplines to be taught, etc. You don't just need a PC lab, but you also need labs in Physics and Chemistry. You also need a workshop. You need labs in electronics, and so on. And, of course, you need faculty members in all sorts of disciplines - sciences, humanities, and other engineering disciplines to do some core teaching.

Long ago, AICTE recognized (with the help of NASSCOM) that a huge shortage of manpower existed in IT area, and it wasn't going to go away unless some innovative pro-active steps were taken. And the best minds of the country got together and came up with the idea that perhaps we can teach students just the IT skills. India has a huge university system, produces a very large number of graduates in 3-year degree programs, and at that time, the employment opportunities for these graduates were limited.

So on one hand you have a huge number of bright graduates with limited options, and on the other hand, you have a huge shortage of skilled manpower in IT. Could we do something that could kill two birds with one stone. MCA was that stone. You provide IT training to these people, and you solve employability problem on one hand, and fuel the growth of IT industry on the other hand. And this could be done quickly, because you needed only computing hardware and software in terms of labs, and you only needed IT faculty (which though difficult to find, but at least you didn't need to find non-IT faculty).

And throughout 90s, MCA programs were very successful, and helped a great deal in bridging the gap between demand and supply of IT manpower.

But things have changed since then. The number of seats in BTech programs just keep increasing every year to the extent that today we produce more BTechs in CS/IT/EC than what our IT industry can absorb. (We still have a shortage but that is due to quality and not quantity.) So, if you look at the top 1-2 lakh students from 12th class, more and more students are able to join professional courses like engineering, than what was the case in the 90s. Also, several other sectors of economy are booming and good jobs are available in lots of different spheres, which means that a lot of good graduates from the university system are getting excellent jobs, and are not as inclined towards doing another three years in IT. Further, while the number of MCA programs as well as BTech programs have mushroomed, the availability of quality faculty to teach all these programs hasn't increased in the same ratio. So the quality of faculty on an average has gone down. (Of course, this has gone down for both BTech and MCA.)

As a result of these changes, the input to MCA program has dried up in terms of quality. There still are many students who would prefer a Bachelor of Science from a good 3-year degree college, and then think about moving to IT by doing an MCA, but the numbers have reduced substantially over these years, and the quality has deteriorated a lot.

So far we have talked about from the input side. Now, let us talk about the output side, or the employability.

Everyone who criticises my comments on MCA loves to point out that in their favorite MCA program, the placement is 100 percent, that they themselves and their classfellows have got jobs in MNCs, in research labs, and what not. Sure that has happened. As I said above, MCA was an important program in the past, and some of the departments/institutes will continue to attract good students and good companies for some more time to come.

But my question is whether there are jobs in industry which can only be done by MCAs and not by BTechs. And second, in the institutes which offer a BTech (or BE) program in Computer Science, as well as offer an MCA program, who gets the higher average salary - MCA or BTech (CS). Also, across the country, how many MCA programs can boast of 90+ percent employment, versus how many BTech programs in CS can boast of 90+ percent employment.

And notice that ideally one would expect MCA programs to be doing far better than BTech programs. After all MCA programs really have a 6-year college, while BTech program is a 4-year college. Also, the number of courses in MCA and BTech in the same college are either equal, or the number of courses in MCA is more. So MCA graduates should be more mature, and should be more knowledgeable, and therefore, demand getter jobs, and higher salaries. If that is not happening, it points to some structural weakness in the MCA programs.

Let me do some star-gazing now. Right now, industry is still in fast growth phase, the quality of technical education is still quite poor in lots of colleges, and the industry wouldn't mind hiring any smart person. In fact, they hire a lot of non-IT persons as well (like those who do BTech in Civil or Mechanical, etc.). But all this is fast changing. What is the likely scenario for future. Someone who is going to join an MCA program in 2008, and graduate in 2011, what will be the likely placement situation. In my opinion, the placement situation will stabilize in IT industry within the next 4 years, and as industry becomes a bit more choosy about whom to hire, some BTech programs will suffer, but a lot more MCA programs will suffer as a result.

So in terms of employment potential, MCA is already on a decline. The average salaries are already lower than BTechs. The employment ratios are already lower than BTechs. And my prediction is that in future, while situation will become worse for both BTech and MCA, relatively speaking, MCA programs will decline faster.

And now, let us talk about the perspective of a college. Why does a college teach a particular course. To me, it seems that the decision should ideally be based on the demand of the society for the graduates of that course. Of course, there is a demand from society in lots of different fields. Out of those areas, a college has to identify its strengths. In what fields can it attract the best students and the best teachers and funding and so on. What should a college do so that it can become more famous, achieve excellence, and so on.

So, a college has a choice of offering lots of different programs. In particular, it has a choice between MCA and BTech (CS). If MCA program was able to satisfy a niche demand that BTech does not adequately serve, then of course, MCA should be there. Or if MCA attracted (for whatever reason) better students to the college, then MCA should be there (and we should perhaps talk about winding up BTech program). If a lot of potential faculty members were deeply interested in teaching in an MCA program (and not in BTech program), then we should keep MCA program. (And depending on the situation, seriously consider getting rid of the BTech program.)

But what is reality. As I have already said above, the MCA employment is no better than BTech, even though they do two years extra, and in most cases, a few extra IT courses as well. There is no niche segment in the industry which MCA appears to be serving.

Also, if you look at the comparable numbers for comparing the input into MCA and BTech at these institutions (like 12th class marks for students of both the courses), you will find that the average input is better in BTechs.

Further, I have been on a few selection committees for hiring faculty in some colleges. If different departments offer MCA and BTech programs, and you ask a faculty candidate - do you want to join the department which offers BTech program, or do you want to join the department which offers an MCA program, invariably the answer is that they want to teach BTech students.

So, if the average input is better for BTechs, and the average salaries are higher after just 4 years, and faculty wants to teach BTech students, why should any college offer an MCA program today. Please note that I am not at all suggesting that MCA programs were always bad to begin with. Not at all. Let me repeat what I said above. They served a historical need in India's IT industry, and did attract excellent students from the university system at that time. But today, there does not seem to be a rationale for continuing that program.

Most colleges continue with that program because either it is money spinner (in the private sector primarily) or because of inertia and not knowing what else the faculty can be used for (in the government sector). Many times there are political pressure to continue with IT related courses. At other times, alumni feel bad if one closes a program, and in deference to their wishes, you continue for one more year, and then one more year. In fact, I have talked to Directors/Principals/Heads of many colleges/departments who offer MCA programs, and I have never heard even one person say that they offer MCA program because it enhances their reputation, because it fits into their scheme of things to achieve excellence, or that they genuinely feel that MCA does meet some niche needs of the society that other similar programs can not meet.

Now, in India, we hardly ever close any program. It is not just in NITs and state engineering colleges, it is even true for IITs, who claim to be excellent. And any suggestion that a particular program may have outlived its importance raises the hackles, particularly of those who are or were closely associated with that program. Any criticism of the current state of the program is taken immediately to mean that everyone associated with that program not just in present but also in past is of poor quality, and that obviously hurts.

But my intention is only to point out that the current situation of most MCA programs is not too good, and the future is likely to be worse. A good past is no indicator of the good future.

So, if you want to join MCA, please be careful. You should do substantial research about quality of faculty, other students, infrastructure, and so on, before embarking upon it. Statistics does not mean anything when it comes to an individual, but it still is a good tool to know what should one be careful about.



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If you have any comments, you can send me email at: dheeraj[AT]iitk.ac.in.