Placement ratio or skills development? What Indian Engineering Should Focus On

Often referred to as the “Land of Engineers”, thousands of engineering colleges in India produce an average of six lakh engineering professionals per year. We are the largest provider of engineering labor in the world, especially in the United Arab Emirates, the US and the UK. Despite being the number one producer of the engineering workforce worldwide, India has seriously failed to train the workforce itself.

Focusing on the growing skills gap among the engineering workforce in the country, a recent study IET feedback survey highlighted the need for skills training in engineering faculties. According to the report, job placements have become more important to universities than upskilling for most engineering institutions in the country. Some 85% of industry and 55% of universities felt that “universities focus more on job placement of students rather than developing their skills and research capabilities.”

Engineering is among the few major job creators in the country and skills deprivation is a concern for both government and industry. Around 50% of engineering graduates in the country are unemployed. The lack of training in the industry makes them unsuitable for the current needs of the industry and thus does not help India to improve its employability rate in the industry.

The survey was a combined effort of “Engineering Admissions and Perceptions – India, Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) and Feedback Consulting” which surveyed around 187 engineering colleges in India, 200 parents of enrolled students and 100 leaders of the industry.

Here are the highlights of the report:

• Basic engineering such as civil, electrical, mechanical, etc. and niche engineering such as biotechnology, textiles, leather, etc. have gained their popularity.
• The overall percentage of girls’ enrollment has increased. It exceeded 31%, especially in computer-oriented streams.
• IT/ITES, Manufacturing and Electrical/Electronics continued to be the top three visitors to India’s engineering campuses. However, in 2015, around 20% of analytics, e-commerce and high-tech companies were also involved in hiring.
• According to the report, most students opted for engineering due to better career prospects rather than individual interest and around 40% ended up working in the sales/marketing/HR domain.
• Parental pressure is one of the main aspects of opting for engineering in India.
• 80% of academics, 74% of industry experts and 85% of parents believe that international accreditation of engineering schools and courses is necessary to attract the best teachers and quality education in this field. particular field.

The comparison in the report was made between fiscal year 2013 and 2014.

What should be done?

IET, the world’s largest engineering institution with around 1.6 Lakh members from 127 countries, works to improve and protect engineering standards in the world. Based on the survey results, the committee recommended the following to improve the quality of engineering in India:

• Emphasis should be placed on improving and developing students’ research skills.
• More attention should be paid to the accreditation process of engineering faculties.
• Colleges should focus on skills development rather than job placement.
• The participation of women should be encouraged.
• Emphasis should be placed on the industry (practical training) of students by improving collaboration between industry and academia.