DU Admissions 2019: Why Arabic tops foreign language courses in university

Students can either choose certificate or diploma courses in Arabic at St. Stephen’s college or opt for the BA (Hons) Arabic and BA (Prog) Arabic at the Zakir Husain Delhi college.

The Department of Arabic at Arts Faculty, North Campus also offers a one year certificate, diploma and an advanced diploma in Modern Arabic as well as BA (Hons), MA, MPhil and PhD in Arabic. 

The increasing demand, says Md Obaidullah, assistant professor at the Arabic department, Zakir Husain college is mainly because of the growing job opportunities in medical tourism and middle-east countries.

“Since Arabic is the first language in 20 countries and is one of the six official languages at the UN, students are getting inclined towards it. Those seeking jobs in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, UAE consider learning Arabic."

Hospital tourism in India is dominated by patients from Arab countries. The demand for guides and translators, who help in communication has increased lately. Most students, after finishing their degrees, are hired by big hospitals to communicate with the patients. Many students take up well-paying jobs as translators and interpreters in UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia. A few students have also found jobs in CBI, AIR, Central Monitoring Service (CMS), media organisations and even in the Indian Army,”he added.

He also confirmed that the number of admissions in this particular foreign language course has seen a rise as there were almost 49 students enrolled in the first year in 2018 and this year the college is expecting 70 new admissions.