Concern voiced over employability of tech students!

A Parliamentary Committee has voiced concern over "employability" of students passing out of technical institutions in the country,saying the expected response from the industry is "simply missing".

Despite several initiatives taken for meaningful interaction between industry and academia for mutual benefits specific to technical education system, linkages between industry and technical institutions continue to remain weak, the Committee said.

The anticipated response from the industry is simply missing and the variety of initiatives has failed to evolve the desired level of participation of the industry, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on HRD said in its report on the functioning of All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE).

It was an accepted fact that technical education comprising almost all the disciplines has to have a well- established linkage with the industry both in terms of its proper growth and job opportunities to the students, the report said.

"Over the years, although there has been tremendous expansion in the number of technical institutions, employability of students passing out of such technical institutions remains a matter of serious concern," it pointed out.

Tie-up with industry associations such as CII, FICCI, ASSOCHAM, NASSCOM and with entrepreneurship promoting agencies have failed to take off, the Committee, headed by senior Congress MP Janardan Dwivedi, said.

The report said that AICTE's admission that monitoring was required to ensure good response of all the existing schemes indicated the "dismal state of affairs in this most vital area".

"The need of the hour is to initiate a meaningful dialogue with the representatives of the industry so as to have the real understanding of their requirements and remove the existing bottlenecks," it said.

Not impressed by the AICTE's reported move to set up another committee for reviewing the Industry-Institute Partnership Schemes, the report said, "undoubtedly, the Council will have to play the role of coordinator and facilitator between the industry and institutions."

In view of the need to foster public/private partnership and harness private sector resources, AICTE should holistically examine its existing rules, regulations and procedures to further this objective, it said.

The Committee has also sought a report within three months from AICTE on the action taken by it in this regard.

Source: Agencies