Placement officers at govt engg, polytechnic colleges to be trained

CHENNAI: To facilitate and increase placement opportunities for the students of State-run engineering and polytechnic colleges, the State government has decided to give comprehensive training for principals and placement officers of these institutions.

In addition to the training, the officials in charge of placement process at these institutions would also undergo field visits to top institutions and industrial training centres.

A senior official from the Higher Education Department said the placement officers of colleges and universities would be taken for field visits to the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) Research Park and MIT-Siemens Skill Training Centre.

About 2,000 members who work with the students in providing placements on the campus have been identified for the training, he said. “Apart from field visits, the representatives of various industries will be invited to give training for these officials,” he said.

During the 2020-21 academic year, out of the 3,324 qualified final year students in government and aided engineering colleges, 2,060 students (62 per cent) were placed in reputed companies through campus recruitment, the official said. This year, the target would be to achieve more than 80 per cent placements, he added.

“During the 2020-21 academic year, out of 16,300 qualified final year students in government and aided polytechnic colleges, 11,936 students (73.22 per cent) were placed in companies through campus recruitment,” he said, adding that the training process for placement in-charge would help raise it to 100 per cent this academic year.

Explaining the training process, he said placement in-charge at colleges and universities would be trained on guiding and helping in imparting quality practical experience to the students through internship opportunities.

“They will also create awareness among students on developing the confidence to face selection process of job recruiters. They will also provide employment opportunities through campus placements by ensuring to invite reputed organisations to their respective institutions,” the official added.

He said that the placement in-charge would also impart information on and training for competitive examinations conducted by the Union government such as Civil Services, Union Public Service Commission, various posts in DRDO and the State-level technical competitive examinations. “They would also inform the students on off-campus employment opportunities and research positions, and would guide research opportunities and encourage the students for a better career.”

Placement officers of colleges and universities would be taken for field visits