The issues discussed in this article : Problems with too narrow specialization at undergrad level, Lacunae in the current system-shortage of Faculty, proliferation of affiliated colleges and a few welcome trends in the present Engineering education.
*Dr Ramana rao , after his M.E. from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, worked for over 20 years in Steel Industry in India and Europe. Shifted to academics, worked as Professor in Engineering College with Ph. D. from Osmania, for 19 years. He was a Member, Board of Studies, taught courses for M.Tech , M.B.A. in both Osmania and JNTU and involved in their Faculty Development Programs. After his retirement, he is a visiting Faculty with ICFAI Business School, teaching MBA and conducting Executive Development Programs for Industry.
1. SPECIALIZATION IN EXCLUSIVE/ RESTRICTED BRANCHES
A patient approached a Doctor for pain in his left hand fore-finger. The Doctor said, " Sorry, I specialize only in the right hand thumb problems".
This story is likely to happen with Engineers also the near future.
In the beginning years of Engg (Engineering) formal education, the branches were only Military Engg and Civil engg. Later, Civil branched into Mechanical. Mining& Metallurgy ( Benares Hindu University in 1940’s). By the next decade, Mechanical branched to Electrical engg. In 1960’s, Electrical engg formed specialization to Electronics . By 1980’s Electronics itself gave birth to the branches- Communications, Computer Science. Currently, many new areas of specialization like Production, Automobiles, Textiles, Instrumentation, Information Technology, Biotechnology, Chemical are available.
While it is welcome to add new specialized branches, many new problems are emerging with this trend. Too much specialization in the UnderGrad courses, starting right from the second ( in some cases first) year of the four-year program, will cause loss of "general and overall competence" needed to solve many related problems.
" Every engineer is likely to own an automobile, construct own house and use many electronic and computer gadgets in life. Lack of basic Mechanical , Civil and Electrical engg knowledge will prove to be a big handicap for such Engineer".
A suitable balance between basic maths, science and general engg courses and the specialized subjects has to be carefully planned for grooming a competent Engineer.
The reason given by some new Engg colleges for introducing new specializations is interesting: " With restrictions on the number of seats per branch by AICTE, the only way to add students for higher returns is introducing new Branches / Specialization" .
The better alternative is to restrict the Branches in Undergrad courses and provide specialization only at Post Grad level like M.E./ M.Tech / M.S.
The other pitfall with specialization at UnderGrad level is that, which field will offer job-opportunities for the candidate in future is not known. Too much specialization may restrict career growth.
Aptitude of the student has to be given priority while selecting specialization.
" I have personally counselled a number of Engg students, who fared very badly in the final two years ,after a brilliant first year performance – only due to their lack of aptitude- bordering on ‘hatred’ –for the Specialization thrust on them."
2. PERSONALITY AND COMMUNICATION SKILLS DEVELOPEMENT:
This is badly sacrificed in Engg education due to the accent on Technical subjects, in contrast to the other grad programs in Arts, Science , Commerce or Law.
In over 40 years of experience in Engg Industry and Academics, I observed that the Engg graduates are by far the worst communicators- even though they have excellent analytical and decision making skills- severely making them unemployable.
3. TEACHING FACULTY SHORTAGE :
Due the recent enormous proliferation of Engg colleges, especially in the States of Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu, Karnataka and Maharashtra, there is an acute shortage of competent teaching faculty. With high salary-offers from the I.T. firms and general leap in the remuneration/ opportunities in other sectors, academic Institutions are unable to attract capable Engineers, in spite of the revisions in UGC / AICTE scales.
Many fresh Engg graduates join teaching only when they are unable to get other jobs. Many of them lack the aptitude for teaching / learning / research. Most of the teaching jobs need actual lecturing for only 6 to 8 hours per week, 8 more for Labs -leaving almost 40 percent idle time per week.
Unless this idle time is suitably channelised, the young grad Engineers joining teaching, tend to shift into an easy, non-challenging career and become prey to Campus / National politics.
The acres of land, buildings, canteens and social / cultural activities in an Engineering college, cannot produce competent Engineers only capable teaching Faculty can do that.
4. AFFILIATED COLLEGES:
The phenomenal growth of ‘affiliated colleges’ under the umbrella of each established university is a matter of concern. The Apex body itself being under-staffed-both in quality and quantity, close control of academic standards in the affiliated colleges is near impossible. In some cases, even if the affiliated college has competency to revise / introduce new topics, they are not allowed by the Apex University.
The main job of the Apex body is to conduct examinations (main and supplementary) each semester as per the academic schedule, evaluate and publish results. There is hardly any time to review Syllabi, update courses or develop contacts with their "Customers"- the Organizations that employ the students passing out.
THE NEW WELCOME- TRENDS IN ENGG EDUCATION:
. Enlightened students are trying to acquire value-addition to their regular studies in fields not taught in their colleges. Whichever branch of Engg they belong to, they acquire computer knowledge and learn Application Software Tools like AUTOCAD, PROENGINEER, PRIMAVERA, ORACLE, SAP etc.. They do this in external Institutes , as most of the Engg colleges are not equipped to train all the interested students in these. This gives a definite competitive edge while seeking jobs in organizations.
2. Preferring post graduation in Management (MBA, PGDM) offered in various Business Schools, MBA colleges and IIM’s.
It is observed that in IIMs as well as other top corporate business schools like ICFAI, IIPM Engineering graduates form over 60 per-cent of the total student strength.
Most of the Organizations prefer such candidates as they combine analytical and decision making skills for Technical operations with comprehensive Managerial skills in Personnel, Finance and Marketing. Thus, with the additional two-year Mgt education, the Engineer becomes a readily usable material for a profitable Corporate career.
3. More established Engg colleges are seeking Autonomy, to have freedom to introduce their own syllabi, evaluation system, build rapport with customer- organizations and guarantee good placement for their students. Such Institutions are becoming popular through competitive development of better infrastructure, even though they charge higher fees.
In my father’s generation, seeking any job outside government service was considered menial. My generation opted for jobs in Private sector but after studies from standard universities. The present generation of students seek education in even autonomous Institutes boldly, even if they are not affiliated to any established university.
3. STUDY ABROAD:
More Engg graduates are seeking further education in foreign universities in present times. Many Institutes in U.K., Australia , Germany, Singapore , Russia, Canada are attracting Indian students, apart from the U.S.A.
India and China are the largest contributors of students in the above countries, which, otherwise, may have to close, due to the lack of local student strength, funds inflow, and utilization of their infrastructure.
During my recent visit to Hamburg Technical University, Germany, I met a number of Indian students. The HTU does not charge any tuition fees, but the students have to bear all other living expenses. Opportunity for part-time jobs is limited, unlike in the U.S.A. However, the facilities for Research and Industry-sponsored Projects are the attractions.
The Author can be contacted on email: ramanaraotv@ rediffmail.com