Turning the tide
Studies show that only 40% of engineering students are employable. To help them get up to speed, the AICTE is working with colleges and the industry to update the curriculum and help students secure internships. Is that a good idea?
For years, the technical education sector in India has faced criticism for lack of quality training and for the quality of its students. Graduates often don’t have the required efficiency to become productive at work from day one, admits AICTE chairman Anil Sahasrabuddhe.
According to the reports submitted to AICTE by national agencies such as Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and The Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), only 40% of students from engineering streams are employable.
The problem was stressed by Union HRD minister Prakash Javadekar in Rajya Sabha on March 29. “The government has set up a target of making at least 60% of engineering graduates in the country employable in the next 5 years,” he said. He also added that the scenario currently is bleak.
From industry-prepared courses and mandatory shopfloor training to imparting managerial and entrepreneurial knowledge, India’s apex technical education regulator — the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) — has laid down a set of must-haves for technical colleges, to improve their graduates’ employability.
But not everyone is in praise of the move. “Tying up with industry to help students secure internships is not likely to help them get jobs,” says GT Thampi, principal of Thadomal Shahani Engineering College, Bandra. “This will only create a high volume of under-valued interns in the market.”
WHAT WILL CHANGE
Every technical college will now be required to have an industry consultation committee to rework the curriculum of each subject taught there. Every year, the committee will also revamp the coursework by December so that revamped courses can be taught from the following academic year. “Each institution, while applying for approval, shall certify completion of this process, which will be mandatory,” the revamp plan by AICTE underlined.
“In order to improve industryreadiness, all graduates will also be educated about leadership, communication and team-working skills,” says Sahasrabuddhe.
This training will begin at the time of admission. “Every student will be put through a mandatory induction to reinforce the fundamental concepts and language skills required” in their choice of subject, the plan document states.
All students will be required to undergo three internships of four to eight weeks each before completing their engineering course. “Currently, students do only one summer internship. In many engineering and management schools, even this isn’t compulsory,” says J Nair, principal of VES Institute of Technology, Chembur.
AICTE is now mandating that colleges help find suitable organisations for students to intern at, an HRD ministry official said, requesting anonymity. “AICTE has also decided to introduce summer internships for at least 75% of its undergraduate students,” Javadekar said.
Aicte-regulated colleges will also have to make teaching staff undergo an annual training course via the government’s Swayam, a platform that offers Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCS) to stay up-to-date.
TAKE NOTES
One of the key challenges that AICTE is likely to face when implementing the revamp plan is getting all the engineering students internships in the industry, says Suresh Ukrande, Principal K J Somaiya Institute of Engineering and Information Technology, Sion and coordinator of Faculty of Technology University of Mumbai. “The solution to this maybe calling industries on campus and creating a practical environment where they will give problems to the students that they can solve, and provide certificates upon completion.”
Training students on the job may hamper the progress of a company’s paid workforce. This is probably why many companies resist hiring interns, says Dayanand Meshram, joint director of Directorate of Technical Education (DTE). “Colleges can, however, do projects and design programmes in collaboration with industry to help bridge the gap.”