To address the existing crisis of vacant seats in engineering colleges across the country, the government will work towards strengthening the core engineering courses and introduce “industry-relevant” disciplines in these colleges, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) chairperson TG Sitharam said.
The former IIT-Guwahati director, who took charge of India’s technical education regulator last month, also told HT’s Fareeha Ifitkhar that there is a need to set up an “institutional system” for regular feedback to bridge the gap between academia and industry. Edited excerpts:
What will be your foremost priority as AICTE chairperson?
The AICTE will focus on spearheading an industrial co-innovation network while concentrating on diverse research fields in cooperation with international institutions and research centres. I will focus on further strengthening AICTE to create better opportunities in the field of employment generation and entrepreneurship, and establishing an ecosystem for co-innovation and start-ups.
A large number of engineering seats across the country are going vacant every year. How would you address this crisis?
The AICTE will emphasise more on core engineering subjects. The AICTE recommends adding “industry relevant” disciplines to current colleges. In contrast to public health engineers, who work on issues like waste and water management and environmental health, communication and security engineers may, among other things, be responsible for safeguarding sensitive data from cyberattacks. India has done an outstanding job of building a vast infrastructure to provide engineering education to thousands of candidates in every state each year. However, in order to meet the demands for the next generation of engineering skills, we need to scale up high-quality technical education.
Do you think engineering education in India needs reforms?
To ensure that students who graduate from academic institutions have the skills necessary for in-demand jobs, these institutions must regularly assess future skill requirements and make appropriate modifications to content and pedagogy. Therefore, it is necessary to set up an institutional system for regular industry feedback on the advancement of technology and how it may affect employment positions.
We have seen a gradual increase in management seats in AICTE-approved colleges at a time when engineering seats are on a decline. What can be the possible reason behind this trend?
There can be many factors. Firstly, students of IT and computer science engineering are getting competitive job offers. However, the situation is not the same in case of students pursuing engineering in other disciplines such as mechanical, civil, or chemical. It is not easy to find well-paying employment in these key subject areas.
Therefore, students essentially have no choice but to pursue an MBA in order to secure employment in the business sector. Companies provide high-paying opportunities to those having MBA degrees from reputable universities.
Secondly, only people with a background in science can perform engineering. Not everyone is motivated or gifted enough to study science. In contrast, there are no such requirements for management courses.
How is AICTE promoting the concept of having technical books in Indian languages?
AICTE is conducting regular expert panel discussions featuring noted academicians’ views on themes such as genesis and importance of education in the mother tongue, role of universities and state technical education departments to impart technical education in Indian languages, and the future road map to make outcome-based education accessible in Indian languages.
What are the major reforms we are expecting in technical education in 2023?
Our efforts are directed at establishing an entrepreneurial environment and providing young people in India with employment prospects. The AICTE will work on producing a lot of innovations and new start-ups with more advanced research in all of its institutions, which can open the door for a fantastic job creator.
