Special article
dl.eletsonline.com | December 2017
digitallearningonline @dl_magazine digitalLEARNINGTechnical
education is the
key enabler for
the development
of the country.
It is the axis
around which
the development
of industry,
infrastructure
and economy
of the countries
revolve.“
”
implemented various new initiatives like Make in
India, Digital India, Skill India, Startup India, Smart
Cities etc, however, are yet to yield results.
Mandatory Internship by AICTE
To enable Engineering and Management students
become employable and to bridge the skill gap
between the industry requirement and the
academia, All India Council for Technical Education
(AICTE) and Engineering Council of India (ECI), in
June this year, entered into an MoU for providing
“Internship” - commence from Session 2017-18
- across 10,000 approximate AICTE affiliated
technical institutions in the country.
Universities like Rajasthan Technical University
(RTU), Samrat Ashok Technological Institute
(SATI), Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki Vishwavidyalaya
(RGPV), Sandip University Nashik (SUN), Gujarat
Technological University (GTU) have already
agreed to carry out this internship programme
for the students to provide a hands-on experience
within a technical institution and industrial
organisation working environment.
The programme has set two summer
internships with the industry, for students before
obtaining their graduate degrees, of two months
duration each. The provison mandates all the
AICTE affiliated universities to make internship
compulsory and include it in their academic
calendar, too.
Under this joint initiative of AICTE-ECI MoU, a
web portal (www.eciinternship.com) has also been
launched for students to obtain internship with
technical institutions and various industries.
The official website of Eciinternship, students
can avail information about various training
programmes and internship opportunities on
engineering and management programmes
offered by ECI Member Associations.
Furthermore, ECI is in the process of
identifying organisation or institutes, both in
India and abroad, and to sign MoUs for facilitating
the internship programme.
The internship programme for graduating
engineering students received a further boost
after the current Chief Minister of Gujarat, Vijay
Rupani directed his State’s industries to enroll
interns - 10 per cent of its total employee strength.
The Gujarat Biodiversity Board has also signed
an agreement with ECI in which the State’s 457
pharmaceutical companies have agreed to take
four students each as interns.
With a similar objective, Rajasthan Chief
Minister Vasundhara Raje recently directed the
State industries to start enrolling students as
interns, ECI Member Secretary Dr PR Swarup
said in one of the programme held by AICTE in
Jaipur recently.Rising trend of Internship providers
In recent years, the country has witnessed a rising
trend of private companies providing internship
and training to the students in verticals such as
engineering, applied arts, architecture, law, hotel
management, website development, marketing
etc.
Technical education is the key enabler for the
development of the country. It is the axis around
which the development of industry, infrastructure
and economy of the countries revolve.
As the number of unemployed engineering
graduates continues to increase, the blame game
often points towards ‘curricula’ for creating the
skill gap between the industry requirement and
the academia.
Time-and-again, a debate is raised to provide
Industry-focused curricula and projects to
enhance the employability of the undergraduates.
The Ministry of Human Resource Development
is planning a major reshuffle in India’s technical
education through the implementation of
the single National Entrance Examination for
Technical Institutions (NEETI) from January
2018, which includes teacher training and annual
revision of curriculum, among others.
Once implemented, the institutions will have
to make suitable changes in the curriculum every
year to meet the industry requirement.