Lok Sabha Question No. 2508 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-07-31
Subject: Employability of Engineering Graduates
Ministry: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: PRATIMA MONDAL

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2508 TO BE ANSWERED ON 31.07.2017

## Employability of Engineering Graduates

## 2508. SHRIMATI PRATIMA MONDAL:

## Will the Minister of HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

be pleased to state the details of the steps taken by the Government to ensure the quality  and  employability  of  the  graduates  produced  by  the  private  engineering colleges in the country in the wake of the higher skill demands of the prospective employers?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

## (DR. MAHENDRA NATH PANDEY)

With a view to improving the quality of technical education and employability of students, the following action plan has been approved by the AICTE:

1. Planning: Perspective Plans will be prepared for each State in consultation with the concerned State Government for assessing the demand-supply situation projected for  the  next  10  years.  This  will  be  a  guiding  document  while  approving  new institutions by AICTE.
2. Selection:    The  students  for  the  technical  courses  shall  be  selected  based  on  a standardized examination.
3. Induction training: Every student, on admission, shall be put through a mandatory Induction training to reinforce the fundamental concepts and the required language skills required for the technical education. The model curriculum and the periodicity of this induction training will be separately notified by the AICTE.
4. Revision  of  curriculum:    Every  affiliating  Technical  University  shall  constitute subject-wise industry consultation committee (ICC) with the mandate of examining the  existing  curriculum  and  for  making  suitable  changes  in  the  curriculum  every year. This process shall be completed in the month of December each year for the courses to be offered in the coming Academic year. Each institution, while applying for approval, shall certify completion of this process, which will be mandatory.
5. Mandatory internships: Every student in technical institution shall do three internships each spanning 4 to 8 weeks before completion of the under-graduation. The  responsibility  will  be  on  the  institution  for  helping  the  students  in  finding

suitable industry or organisation for the internship.

6. Industry readiness: All students passing out of the undergraduate courses shall be imparted technical and soft skills required for working in the industry encompassing -  managerial  skills,  entrepreneurial  skills,  leadership  skills,  communication  skills, team-working skills and technical skills.
7. Promoting innovation/start-ups: There shall be efforts at every level for promoting innovation and creativity in the students. The innovation drives like Hackathon shall be promoted, so that innovative ideas would emerge that can be incubated in the start-up centres.
8. Exam reforms: The final exams being conducted by the institutions shall test the understanding of the concepts and the skill - rather than the subject knowledge. A model  exam  format  would  be  prepared  and  shared  with  the  institutions  and  the technical  universities  for  suitable  adoption.  This  aspect  would  be  reviewed  at  the time of approval.
9. Training of teachers: Every teacher in each of the technical education disciplines shall mandatorily undergo an annual refresher course delivered through SWAYAM portal,  encapsulating  all  the  major  advances  in  the  field  of  their  study.  Online courses would also be prepared and delivered through the SWAYAM platform for improving  the  pedagogical  techniques  of  the  teachers.  The  participation  in  the courses by atleast 50% of the faculty would be a mandatory condition for approval of the institution. Similarly, there should be leadership training to the heads of the institutions  once  in  2  years.  These  trainings  would  also  be  hosted  through  the SWAYAM platform.
10. Mandatory  accreditation:  At  least  half  of  all  the  programmes  in  the  technical institutions  shall  be  accredited  through  the  NBA  before  2022.  Unless  there  is credible  progress  each  year,  the  approval  of  the  institutions  can  be  refused.  In order to assist the institutions in meeting the mandatory requirements for applying for accreditation, a separate mechanism will be put in place.

Further, AICTE implements the National Employment Enhancement Mission (NEEM) and Employment Enhancement Training Programme (EETP) to enhance the employability of the students. AICTE has also signed MoUs with major private companies e.g. LinkedIn and Monster.com to create enhanced employment opportunities for the students.

*********