While there’s a rise in job opportunities, the educational prospects is low in India.
By Jignasa Sinha
Bangalore, April 8, 2019: Data analysis is a new-age technological boom in the global market. This phenomenon deals with data and how it can be transformed into a useful source for extracting accurate information. Data analysis has helped the growth of software in artificial intelligent (AI) and machine learning systems.
Bangalore is regarded as the hub for AI and data science jobs and innovations. Regardless of the entire numerous job opportunities, there are only a few institutes that offer a professional degree course in data science or analytics.
Prajjwal Bisht, a student of Vivekananda Institute of Technology (VKIT) college says, “ It is so difficult to find colleges that offer a specialisation in data analytics, after my 12th grade I tried applying for this course but could only find a few colleges with high cut-offs for entrance exams. I couldn’t clear the tests and settled for computer science. My college doesn’t offer any such course and I have to learn all the software on my own.”
Students looking for a career in data analytics first pursue a degree in engineering with computer science and information technology as their subjects, and later enroll for online courses to learn the skills required for jobs. Siddhant Kanwar, a data analyst says, “I studied engineering from Delhi and later took one gap year from studies to pursue a career in this field. I had to switch between two to three websites to learn all the computer languages and software knowledge required for data analytics. It was difficult as there is no specified curriculum for this subject.”
Eminent institutes like Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) offer a course in this field. They have limited seats and only meritorious students get the chance. There are more than 200 engineering colleges in Bangalore but only a fraction of these offers a course in data analytics.
According to reports, there a 45 percent increase in jobs in data analytics since 2017. In 2019, India has more than six percent of job openings in the world for data analysts. Prashant Joshi, CEO of Fractal Analytics in Bangalore says, “Bangalore has companies like Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), and IBM that have opened departments for this budding field. Sadly, most of the aspirants suffer due to confusing online courses that are not always updated. The colleges in India are not willing to update their curriculum for the growing tech market in India.”
