There is an urgent need to alter the way students learn and teachers teach engineering. Mandatory internship in industry, and compulsory pre-course orientation for students, plus a certification course for new teachers are a must. Anil Sahasrabudhe, Chairman AICTE, is pushing for big change.
For India to grow, we must have inclusive growth. For long, the North-East stood neglected, leading to social unrest. Recently, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) brought the region on board, by first offering training and later placement support to its engineering students. The move was choreographed by the Chennai headquartered ICT Academy, a public-private partnership in the skill-development space. Plans are on to extend the outreach facility to Jammu & Kashmir.
Facilitator, not just regulator
Speaking at a conference in Hyderabad, Dr. Anil Sahasrabudhe, Chairman AICTE, talked about the changing role of the regulator and the challenges ahead. He wished to see AICTE emerge as an ‘Objective’ facilitator than a ‘Regulator’ which is a welcome move in perspective. The recent renaming of backward states into ‘aspirational states’ is an indication that the government means business, as it removes the stigma associated with the word ‘backward.’ Further, it brings about a change in people’s mindset.
If India is to reap benefits from its much touted demographic dividend, its youth must possess job-relevant skills in an age where job definitions are changing by the hour. Talking about engineering colleges in particular. Sahasrabudhe identified the issues.
When it comes to excellence, there are questions on the quality of engineering colleges and of their output. Various reports suggest how many engineers are unemployable. Some place it at 95 per cent, others put it at 75 per cent. While we can argue with these numbers and even say some of these engineers are under-employed but not unemployed, there is an added responsibility on the colleges. Colleges must improve quality and strive for excellence as a primary measure, instead of being happy in just placing the young graduates in some odd job.
The knowledge triad
Sahasrabudhe spoke about how India is getting left behind in the knowledge gale that is sweeping the world. He spoke of the knowledge triad: (a) Knowledge creation, (b) Knowledge dissemination, and (c) Knowledge conversion. Knowledge is a by-product of learning, and there is an unstated link to engineering education as the revolution has its source in technology.
Knowledge creation is about research. Are we hungry enough for carrying out original research? No. We lack the yen for it. Next, are we assimilating the knowledge that is available and growing elsewhere? Not quite. Are we disseminating it to our new-gen learners? Maybe, ‘no.” Finally, are we converting knowledge into products and processes? Definitely not. “I think we are missing that part, missing even in the best of institutions,” said the chief regulator. Are we able to apply knowledge for society’s benefit? After all, education is not merely for the sake of learning. This is where entrepreneurship, innovation and start-ups have a significant role to play. For all that to happen, we must integrate engineering with humanities like what is happening the world over.
There are some new reforms AICTE is working on to usher the winds of change. A model curriculum, mandatory teacher certification, compulsory internship, and pre-engineering orientation are some of the ideas that are going to see fruition this year.
Upgrade Curriculum
First up, the curriculum has got to be contemporary. AICTE roped in experts from industry and the IITs to clear the new syllabus for all programmes that the regulator deals with. These course contents are now available as ‘model curriculum’ which every institution is free to adopt. Of course, colleges can modify them depending on their location, vision and strategy. Each year as new vistas open up, new subjects will come as electives. This will help keep the programme contemporary.
Train teachers of engineering colleges
Second, today you cannot be a school teacher without a BEd qualification, a course where you are taught how to teach. A doctor cannot practise medicine unless he undergoes house surgeoncy, post his MBBS degree. No one can take the chartered accountancy examination without doing Articleship with an audit firm. But engineering is a four-year course where teachers are not ‘trained’ to teach and students do not go through an internship. This has to be corrected and AICTE is on the job.
A teacher-certification programme with eight modules has been developed and will run for four to five months. Every new teacher has to undergo this programme before he is regularised. The course will teach how to create a syllabus, how to interact in class, etc. In short, things which a teacher is required to do during the next thirty years of his career will be taught. The broad dream is to get the best and brightest to come to teaching, and not to leave it to those who come in after exhausting all options available elsewhere.
