#Industry #Revolution, IR 4.0 needs #intelligent #systems, subsystems, #assemblies and #devices, duly #integrated with an effective and efficient #human-machine #. This requires a big change in the #curricula of #technical #education at the Diploma / UG/PG level in our #colleges and #universities. Hence there is an urgent need to train our teaching faculty and students to acquire new skills needed for #emerging #industrial #jobs. Fortunately, since 2018, most of the institutes of higher learning/ universities have already #restructured their #Curriculums to include courses related to #skills needed for #emerging #technologies. In this direction, the All India Council for Technical Education (#AICTE) and the National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research (NITTTR), Chandigarh have jointly created an industry-accepted curriculum for the UG level degree in #Computer #Science and #Engineering. In 2019, AICTE has approved nine new courses for the Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) or B Tech in IT. These subjects are - #AI, #IoT, #Robotics, #Data #Science, #3D Printing and Design, #Blockchain, #Quantum #Computing, #Cloud Computing and #Cyber #Security. This will help in creating a young workforce which will be well equipped with new skills for handling emerging technologies.
The
future technology jobs will be related to AI/ML, Robotics, Drones, Data
analytics, Cloud Computing, Big Data, Mobile communication networks, IoT and
Cyber security. Seeking a job in organizations, which are using newer
technologies, will require sound education in these emerging technologies and
industry-related #newer skills.
Shortage of Technical Workforce. There is a global #shortage of #workforce equipped with new technology
skills. In India, there are often complaints from the corporate world that
fresh graduates in the field of Engineering and Management are not
industry-ready and they have to spend training resources and time to make them
job worthy. They often quote that just 25 % to 30 % of the fresh graduates are
billable from day one or directly deployable on the job, while others need 3 to
6 months of grooming and on-the-job training. Most employers are looking for
readily billable professionals and value for money.
To match industry requirements in various technology trends, one
has to excel in academic courses, while at college/university and also acquire
additional job-related skills from various training institutes/online courses.
Impact
of Covid -19 (Pandemic). Covid 19 has
increased global demand for a technology/skill-based workforce. Consequently,
there is a need to align higher/professional education institutes and even
vocational education to evolve their academic curriculum more aligned to Science,
Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). The new learning of technology
processes will require more innovation and creative thinking to develop faster and highly reliable business solutions for various products and services.
Classroom teaching in face-to-face mode and the supervising student has paved
the way to ZOOM like technologies for imparting education in virtual mode.
Today a teacher has to be very innovative and skilled in technology as well as
critical thinking.
In
most counties, there are controlling/ monitoring/accreditation bodies to ensure
that professional education institutions/ universities have industry-oriented
curricula and adequate resources to meet prescribed standards. Some of the
controlling bodies are:
• USA. Washington Accord for Engineering Education (USA) , ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board (ANAB) , United Accreditation Foundation (UAF).
• UK. National Accreditation Body (NAB) and UK Accreditation Services (UKAS).
•
China. China has “China National Accreditation
Service (CNAS) for Conformity Assessment.
•
France- Committee Francais d'Accreditation (COFRAC).
•
Germany- Accreditation
( Dakks).
•
Canada- Standards Council of Canada (SCC).
•
Japan - International Accreditation Japan (IA
Japan ) .
•
Australia- Engineer Australia.org.
•
India-
• University
Grant Commission (UGC). UGC approves the establishment of every university in
India and also approves university curriculum, quality of teaching faculty and
teaching methodology.
• All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) approves curriculum, number and
qualification of teaching faculty and quality of delivery of technical
education in areas like Engineering, Management, Bio-Technology and other new
technical courses related to emerging technologies.
• Central Board for School Education (CBSE) deals with matters of school education and
entrance examination for engineering programs.
• National
Board of Accreditation (NBA) deals with all matters related to the number,
qualification and standard of teaching faculty in engineering institutes. It
ensures the delivery of good quality education. It matches the engineering
standards of the “Washington Accord” of the USA.
•
Quality
Assurance Certification Bodies.
•
National
Accreditation and Assessment Council (NAAC) is an autonomous body for
evaluating the quality of higher education in institutes of higher learning.
•
National
Accreditation Board for Education and Training (NABET) deals with other education
and training programs run by various institutes.
Types and Level of Educational Institutes (India).
•
Higher Secondary Schools and Senior Higher Secondary Schools.
•
Open Schools – Home Schools
•
Polytechnic and Diploma level institutes.
•
Institute of Technical Education (ITI) / Vocational Training
•
Colleges and schools offering programs in Science, Arts,
Management and Law.
•
Colleges / Institute of Design,
•
Colleges of Engineering, Architect, Bio-Technology, Mining and.
Petroleum and Pipe Line Engineering,
•
Institute of Aeronautical Engineering and Aeronautics
• Universities – These are under Union Grant Commission (UGC) and
could be fully or partially funded by the centre/state. Some of these are
Technology universities, the University of Law, Agriculture universities, and the Petroleum
and Piping Engineering universities.
• Private Universities. These are approved by the UGC
but are independent for their functioning. Some of these are Liberal Arts
Universities, Liberal studies Universities,
•
Deemed to be university. The colleges which have consistently
performed well for 7-10 years and are approved by the AICTE, can apply to the
UGC for Deemed to be University status. After due evaluation of applications
and on-the-ground inspection by a nominated expert committee, UGC grants the status
of “Deemed to be University” to the selected colleges.
• Open universities offering Distance Education. One such
leading university is Indra Gandhi Open University (IGNOU).
•
Institutes of Management. These awarded PG Diploma
(Equivalent to MBA). These private institutes are approved and monitored by the
AICTE.
•
Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). These are the best
technology institutes in India, matching international standards in innovations
and research.
•
Indian Institute of Science (IIS) (Bangalore), It is an autonomous
institute of science and technologies.
•
· National Institutes of Technology (NIT). Each
state of India has one NIT. These NITs are outstanding colleges of engineering
which are funded and monitored by the Ministry of
HRD, Central Government of India.
•
Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs). These are the best
institutes of management in India, awarding PG Diploma in Management
(Equivalent to MBA)
• Institutes/colleges of Fine arts. These offer
diploma/degree level courses in Music, Dancing, painting, sculpturing and
performing arts
•
Institutes of Journalism and Mass Communications. These
institutes provide courses in Journalism, Photography, Filming and Mass
Communications.
Choice of Program and Institution. The selection of the right professional program as per an
individual’s passion and its employability are important considerations. The
next important action in the selection of an institute or university which has
a good national level ranking and it has been accredited by a recognized
agency. It should have a track record of good placements. The
location of the university/institute/college or their fee should matter
less. Some of the important factors which should be kept in mind while deciding
the university /institution/ college are:
•
Good
academic ranking at a national level.
•
Accredited by
national/international quality assurance /accreditation agency.
•
Multi-Disciplinary
/Liberal Arts curriculum.
•
Major
with one or two minors in each UG/PG program.
•
Faculty
having good qualifications, experience, and research work to their credit.
•
National/international
collaborations with universities/institutes /organizations
•
Flexible
credit-based evaluation system where credits earned by the student are
transferable to other similar institutes.
•
Exchange
programs with foreign institutes /universities where faculty and students could
have close interaction with their counterparts.
•
Industry adoption
of colleges and departments of a university to facilitate training and
placement of students.
•
Placement
record showing number and types of industry/organization who employed students,
•
Research
facility for innovation and developing patents.
•
Centre
of Excellence / Innovation Centre for students to experiment with their ideas
and innovate new products/ services.
•
Fully equipped
Labs / Workshops/Studios and Theatres.
•
Hostel
Facilities.
•
Library
facility / E-Library.
•
Wi-Fi enabled
campus
• Theatre / Auditorium for conducting various
functions /events/ conferences
•
sports
facilities, playgrounds, athletics track, Gym.
•
Clubs
and societies for student development, cultural functions and adventure
activities.
Adopting Digital Technology. All courses should be approved by the
UGC/AICTE. Computer programming should be judiciously embedded in most of the
curriculums, starting from the school level to college and university. Digital
Technology is a great boon for areas like Fashion Design. 3D Printing, Robotics
and ML. Some popular programs/courses are given below:
•
Computer programming
languages like C++, Java, Python, Ruby,
•
CAD and 3D
printing.
•
IT-related Database and dealing with Non-SQL, Architecture, Engineering,
•
Digital
photography and Digital movie-making,
•
Digital
Marketing,
•
Tourism and
Hotel management.
•
E-commerce
•
Healthcare.
Part-Time Courses. In India and in most Asian countries, college /university fee is
quite high and some people cannot afford regular full-time
studies. Some people are already employed and want to acquire new
skills for advancement in their careers. They cannot quit their job and they
look for part-time or online courses to improve their CV. Some people go for
more affordable Distance Learning or online courses. However, in countries like
India, distance education is not at par with a regular college degree.
Therefore, you should do an undergraduate degree of three- or four-years duration, as a regular student and from a recognized institution. If you do any
short skill-building course or technical diploma/certificate level course, you
must get certified for having acquired good competency. Without certification,
the skill acquired you will not be given the required recognition by any
employer.
Summary, In order to get the best out of
emerging technological advances, the industry and various departments in
government/ private sectors, need a workforce, which is technology
savvy to efficiently handle new technology equipment, devices and machinery.
It is well recognized that there is an acute shortage of competent
professionals, To overcome this problem, the Government of India ( GOI)
has evolved a new education policy in 2020 known as NEP 2020. This document can
be downloaded from --- https://www.education.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/NEP_Final_English_0.pdf.
Likewise, UGC and AICTE have
already restructured curricula for institutes of higher learning and
universities to incorporate courses in AI, ML, IoT, Robotics, Drones,
Blockchain, cloud computing, Big Data and data sciences. To ensure good quality
of new technology programs, Quality Assurance Agencies like UGC, NBA and
NAC will take care during their inspections for granting
recognition/certification. It is expected
that by 2025, the availability of technical manpower would improve.
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