KOHAT, Sept 5: The Kohat University of Science and Technology (KUST) has closed down its Department of Business and Information Technology due to poor response from local industry where BBA degree holders are preferred over those earning BBIT degrees, a survey conducted by Dawn reveals.

A similar situation also prevails in the Preston University where only a few students apply for admission to the BBIT and the department is on the verge of closure.

Zeeshan Khattak, assistant registrar of the KUST, informed Dawn that employers, while evaluating holders of BBA and BBIT degrees, hire the former because they study marketing and finance.

Moreover universities throughout the county also contributed to the problem by producing BBITs at an enormous scale during the past several years and an impression was created that it is an era of IT revolution and every student must do BBIT.

He said that Comsats, the Quaid-i-Azam and the National Islamic universities have also closed their BBIT departments and other universities were changing their curriculum of the BBIT to bring it in conformity with market demands.

The KUST has decided to start MBA courses from October next to make up for the deficiencies in the BBIT students so that their degrees are worthy of jobs. It would offer MS in marketing, HR, finance and IT only to it own graduates. The 18-month course would also include 8 months of research in any of the above subjects.

Keeping in view the capacity of the faculties and space, 35 seats are being launched initially which would be gradually increased. The seats would be sufficient for this year because only one batch has graduated since establishment of the university and another is about to pass out.

He said that the BBIT degree was equivalent to old masters degree according to the HEC standards and the rumours of cancellation of the degrees were totally false.

The BBIT students also complained that banks and other departments preferred students of BBA and MBA for internship and the BBIT degree was fast losing its scope and importance.

Many worried students, while talking to Dawn, said majority of their colleagues who belonged to poor families would find it very difficult to spend another one-and-a-half year. The HEC and the university should find a middle way and add additional subjects in their present course so that they could be saved from an 18-month extra course.

Certainly, there would be students who would like to end their studies after doing graduation and find job. Therefore, the HEC should devise some strategy to save their time and money, they added.