Social Work Courses

Social work has stopped being the prerogative of few great people who wanted to change the society for better or those who wanted to help the repressed and the underprivileged. Social work in today has become a full fledged profession with highly trained professionals. The casual attitude attached with social work has been replaced by a serious professional attitude. People having compassion for the poor, the deprived and the disadvantaged usually opt for this career. There are institutions that offer full time social work course in India. But the must-haves for aspirants are the capability of working really hard under precarious working conditions.

Courses in Social Work in India

Undergraduate and Post - graduate courses on social work are offered by various institutions. The Various courses on offer in social work, their duration and qualifications required are as follows:

Name of Course Duration Eligibility
B.S.W / B.A (Social Work) 3years Candidates who have passed the XIIth standard can apply for this course.
M.S.W / M.A (Social Work) 2 years Candidates who have completed graduation in any subject can apply but graduates having sociology or social sciences as their subjects are preferred.

M.Phil Candidates who have completed M.S.W can apply for this course Ph.D Candidates with a M.S.W or M.Phil degree can pursue a doctorate in social work.

Few institutions offering courses on Social work
Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management, Calcutta University
Tata Institute of Social Sciences, P.O.8313, Sion-Trombay Road, Deonar, Mumbai 400088
Palli Sangthan Vibhag (Rural Reconstructions College), Vishwa Bharati University, Shantiniketan 731235
University of Delhi, Delhi 110007
Jamia Millia Islamia, Jamia Nagar, New Delhi 110025
Institute of Social Sciences, Agra
Kurukshetra University, Guru Nanak Khalsa College, Yamuna Nagar, Department of Social work, Kurukshetra 132119
Madras School of Social Work, Egmore, Chennai
Karve Institute of Social Science, Poona University, Pune
Benefits: The social work courses in India are designed to produce highly trained professionals for specialized fields of work. There are scopes for work in health related, psychiatric or anthropological fields. With institutes like the TISS offering career oriented courses the scope of building a successful career in this field looks promising.

Scope in India: Job opportunities in Social Work vary with the kind of specialization that a person has opted for. The jobs available in the Indian market are:
Specialists in medical aid and psychiatric social work find jobs in hospitals, clinics, counseling centers, mental hospitals and old age homes.
Specialists in criminology find jobs in prisons and correction cells
The labor welfare specialists work as labor welfare officials in M.N.Cs and in HR department of industries.
The community welfare specialists generally find employment in NGOs working for the improvement of rural health, sanitation and lifestyle.
After gaining some experience M.S.Ws can be appointed as consultants with various organizations.
Teaching is another option for Social workers.
Scope abroad: The M.S.W degree holds good for international market as well. Premier international organizations like WHO, UNESCO and UNICEF employ social workers in awareness campaigns and projects meant for developing countries. Internationally recognized NGOs that employ Indian social workers also pay well.

Soruce: http://www.indiaedu.com/career-courses/social-work-courses/index.html