How much time should I spend learning data structures during an MCA?

Data structures help students organise information efficiently and are important for writing scalable programs. Arrays, linked lists, stacks, queues, trees, graphs and hash-based structures are common foundations. The practical value of data structures becomes clearer when you use it to solve an actual problem instead of studying definitions alone. This point is specifically relevant to the data structures aspect of MCA study. For this specific question about data structures, the practical takeaway is to relate the concept to your own MCA learning goal.