Bengaluru: Raising questions over the quality of education at our engineering colleges, the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) had found that a whopping 60% of engineering graduates remain unemployed. To scale over the problem, the Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) has decided to offer a 120-hour certificate programme to 4.25 lakh students at the university and professionals looking to re-skill and upskill their knowledge in various domains.
Mr S.J. Amalan, Director, VTU Skill Development Centre, told Deccan Chronicle that the programme aims to bridge the gap between the academia and industry. "As changing the curriculum is a tedious process, industry-academia collaboration to upskill and reskill the aspiring and prevailing workforce is the best solution to ensure a fair employability rate. This programme will also provide a better idea to students on what skillsets are required to find an apt placement in the industry," he said.
The course will spread across eight different modules. As many as 109 modules have been finalised now, from which a student can pick those of his/her choice varying from six base streams - mechanical, civil, electric, electronic, computer science and business management. Colleges can either set up the required facility at their respective campuses by inviting industry experts or can send their students to training centres of their choice. “An expert committee that included around 25 representatives from the industry has vetted the modules and will finalise certified training centres. For instance, the Karnataka German Technical Training Institute has contributed 22 different modules and has signed up their five training centres for the initiative. Microsoft, Oracle, Primavera, AutoCAD, GTTC, NTTF and other renowned software companies and financial firms are the others who will collaborate with the initiative,” Mr Amalan said.
He said classes will be held during weekends and semester breaks to ensure no disturbance to the regular curriculum, which will also enable students from rural areas to travel to cities and industries to attend training sessions. “The training will be provided by industry skill experts, while the final evaluation, testing and examinations will be controlled by the university to ensure credibility to the certification awarded.”
Failed students, current professionals also to benefit
On completion of eight modules successfully while pursuing the graduation course, a VTU-certified postgraduate diploma will be awarded within six months of students graduating. They will also be awarded certificates on completion of each 10-credit module for the respective skill which can make them employable even if the student has backlogs to clear after four years of engineering studies, said Mr Amalan. The programme is expected to benefit professionals to upskill their talent to stay competent with the rising industry standards.
