54 INDIA TODAY AUGUST 13, 2018captured by companies
lRobotic process automation, robo-
advisory, robo-calling
lDesign thinking for solving problems
and giving more value to users
lUI (User Interface) and UX (User
Experience) design for developing and
designing mobile apps
lInternet of Things
lFinancial technology for revolution-
izing conventional financial services
Soft skills. Though industries are
being automated at lightning speed,
soft business skills such as creativity,
decision-making, customerorientation,
strategic thinking, interpersonal skills,
leadership skills, cognitive intelligence
and time management skills will always
be in high demand. Thus, engineering
institutions and organisations should
provide soft skill training to IT students
so that they can develop their lan-
guage and communication skills, joint
problem-solving skills and the skills
for managing cross-functional teams.
Moreover, these core skills will help
enhance automated tasks.
Training IT students in the next
wave of technologies will not only
make them aware of cutting-edge
technology trends, but also make them
eligible for jobs that require soft skills
and technology prowess.
ROLE OF GOVERNMENT AND
INDUSTRY
Skill-based education is the need of
the hour. The government, with its
campaigns and reskilling drives, has an
important role to play in reskilling the
workforce of the future. It needs to give
careful attention to the importance of
teaching soft skills to IT students. At the
same time, the government can instruct
training institutions to take all possible
measures to ensure the comprehensive
skill development of candidates. En-
gineering students should also be pro-
vided with hands-on training to better
prepare them for real-world situations.
lStates should institute quality bench-
marks for engineering colleges
lThe government should drive more
initiatives like ‘Make in India’ and
‘Startup India’ to boost employment
avenues for engineers in the country.
The primary objective of this part-
nership is to create a digital skilling
platform to reskill and upskill fresh as
well as existing talent.
lQuality is key; the All India Council
for Technical Education (AICTE) is
planning to shut down almost 800
engineering institutions as admissions
in these institutions are going down.
Moreover, it is closing down institu-
tions that do not provide proper infra-
structure to students and fail to report
at least 30 per cent admissions for five
years in a row. Since 2016, the number
of seats in engineering has been plum-
meting significantly; consequently,
there will be approximately 80,000
fewer seats for engineering students
this year in India.ROLE OF ACADEMIA
AND INDUSTRY
Indian universities need to engage stu-
dents in hands-on activities that can
help channelise their talent in the right
direction, besides supporting them to
acquire a handle on how technology
ignites innovation.
lInstead of focusing on conventio nal
teaching, educational institutions are
now collaborating with the private
sector to provide practical training to
engineering students so that they can
learn the industry skills required for
successful IT careers; this will open upemployment opportunities and meet
the needs of the IT job market
lNASSCOM has partnered recently
with the IT ministry to launch a mega
IT reskilling programme, ‘Future
Skills’, to reskill approximately two
million IT professionals over the next
four to five years. NASSCOM also
plans to reach out to IT institutions
to acquaint the faculty with the latest
requirements and modifications in
industry.
lIndustry-academia partnerships are
providing engineering students with a
much-needed opportunity to develop
skills and hone their capabilities under
the guidance of industry experts which
may also end up in their placement as
interns and full-time professionals.
Such a partnership will prove fruitful
for IT companies too as the training of-
fered by them would help identify and
recruit innovative minds. This learning
process needs to be more interactive to
motivate the students.INDIA AS THE GLOBAL
‘DIGITAL SKILL HUB’
As we enter the fourth industrial revo-
lution, it has become necessary to make
India’s youth ready for the jobs of the
future. The need of the hour is for the
government, academia and industry to
align and work towards making India
the ‘digital skill hub of the world’. Skill
gap from my vantage point is the big-
gest opportunity for India.UNLOCKING THE
POWER OF ONE
I call upon young minds to be disrup-
tors at an individual level to survive
the era of disruption. The infrastruc-
ture and ecosystems may be in a flux
but will come up to speed if collective
efforts continue. The choice of self-
learning, being aware of market needs
and working smartly towards being
value creators and not just job seekers
is in the hands of individuals and the
communities around them. Let’s be the
change agents who lead the change.
The time is NOW. nThe writer is CEO, Tech Mahindra40 per cent of IT
professionals in
India need to re-skill
themselves to stay
relevant and ease the
strain caused
by automation
EDUCATION SPECIAL GUEST COLUMN