Is the industry making too much of a noise about the gap between the continuously evolving technology and what students get to learn at engineering colleges?
A broad response to this question, at a seminar on 'Re-engineering future in India' here on Saturday, was in the affirmative; speakers from variousengineering colleges insisted that the industry cannot do away with its part of training responsibility by expecting students to be employable from the first day after graduation.
"The industry's participation as a key stakeholder is critical to address the employability issue," said the experts at the event, which was organised by Pearson Education India, publishers of academic and reference books, to mark the launch of customised textbooks for engineering studies.
College of Engineering Pune (CoEP) director Anil Sahasrabudhe said, "Reports from industry bodies like the National association of software and services companies (Nasscom) are often cited to point out that barely 25% of students graduating from engineering colleges are employable vis-a-vis the skills required by the industry."
"While a debate prevails on whether the role of institutions is confined to teaching basic concepts and fundamentals of engineering, the fact also remains that the industry's expectation is driven more by profitability and productivity aspects," said Sahasrabudhe. "Instead, the need is to appreciate that young graduates will take some time to settle into their work," he added.
Sahasrabudhe said, "Communication skills, especially a two-way classroom exchange between students and faculty, as well as exchange among the faculty, and development of problem-solving abilities as against rote learning, are crucial to rolling out good engineering graduates."
He said, "Modern day engineering students have access to a range of learning material, starting with the classroom textbooks to books and journals in libraries, e-books, digital content like compact discs, open courseware on the internet and webinars. However, what is important is to see that they get genuine original texts. The teachers have an important role in facilitating this."
Symbiosis Institute of Technology (SIT) director Tejinder Pal Singh concurred with this view by saying, "It is important that teachers read original books and refer the same to students to build and create the kind of learning material they require."
Singh made an elaborate presentation on introducing an internship model to engineering studies that focuses on improvement of soft skills and communication and adaptability of students from tier II and III cities.
S Y Prabhu, former academic dean at the Vishwakarma Institute of Technology (VIT), said, "The oft-repeated remark that the university syllabus is outdated and not in tune with what is happening in the industry is unfair, considering that educational institutions are meant for making the fundamentals clear and stronger. It is unrealistic to expect a continuous change in the syllabus for a four-year programme."
Prabhu, however, conceded that flexibility in terms of implementation of the updated syllabus was an issue owing to the large number of colleges that operate within an affiliated system of the university.
He emphasised the need for better communication between faculty and students, efforts to retain high-quality faculty, boosting confidence of faculty to go for innovative ways of teaching, and introduction of other disciplines, like management and psychology, in the engineering curriculum.
Referring to industry-institute interaction, Prabhu said that industry ought to participate more by offering practical training programmes to students. The universities also need to take bold decisions, like opting for credit-based continuous and comprehensive evaluation at the undergraduate level of studies. This will ensure suitable opportunities for students to improve on their performance.
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