A major factor considered while rating any Engineering College is the facility of ‘On Campus placement’ arranged by it.

Thanks to the reservation policy of the Government, many SC,ST students do get in professional colleges. However, the Governments, unfortunately, seem to be under the impression that their job is over with providing them admission and scholarship to these category of students. In fact, their job starts only after this stage.

The purpose of providing admission for SC and ST students in engineering course is to endow them with employable skills at the end of the course.  The statistics of campus placements amply prove that there is no relationship between the number of SC/ST students admitted and the number of them able to find a placement. The gap that exists between the two is wide to lose sight of.

It is a sad fact that most of the SC/ ST students who complete their professional courses are not qualified enough to get through the campus placements, given the expectations underlying the same.  The corporates who visit the colleges for campus placements insist on certain minimum requirements.  The first requirement is that the students who aspire for campus placements should consistently maintain a minimum of 60% of marks right from their X Standard.  Some multinational companies insist on much higher percentage of 65 and more .The second most important condition is that the students soliciting campus placements should not have backlogs at any time. Some companies adopt a flexible stand with regard to backlogs and are ready to accept the students who successfully clear the backlogs, if any, by the date of placement.

The above two conditions prove quite tough for many SC,ST students as they do not fulfill them. The reasons for this malady are many.

SC and ST students hailing from rural areas or districts suffer from many handicaps. There are first generation students with no parental guidance. They are exposed to the urban ways and culture for the first time and it takes quite some time for them to overcome this cultural shock. Displacement from their known place to unknown and fast moving urban areas prove causes for immediate set back in their academics and behavior, resulting in complex and fears.

The next factor is the change of medium of language. Rural SC and ST students, who are hitherto used to their mother tongue medium, find it quite difficult to follow the subjects taught in English.

Next, these students are not tuned to environment and ambience of a professional college, its ambience, style of functioning, semester based syllabi, quiz/mid exams, lab/practical, internal paper setting/evaluation, regular attendance to classes and what not. 

To add to their woes, the monetary problem they face in the new metro they have just stepped in add to their plight. Mere fee reimbursement, monthly maintenance allowance given by Govt. is highly inadequate. There are  no sufficient number of hostels providing both lodging and boarding to these students. They are compelled to stay in private rooms/hostels as many colleges do  not have hostels on/off campus and the students are left to fend themselves. Students living in private room/hostels have to incur a minimum of Rs 3000 per month to lead a decent living , so that he can concentrate on his studies to fare academically well. The students hailing from creamy layer sections of these categories may not face this difficulty as their family  supplements and supports them monetarily. Most of SC,ST students do not have the  kind of family support as they are from Below Poverty Line families. They are compelled to take up odd jobs to bridge the gap between what the Government provides and what they require to spend for their sustenance and pursuit of their studies. The policy makers at higher level need to bestow more attention to these facts and ensure that these students are given much more financial assistance. Alternatively, more number of hostels with proper care and infrastructure need to be started so that students are freed from the anxiety of finding food and shelter. There have been quite a few cases where these rural SC and ST students were not attending the college or  bunking the classes due to lack of proper dresses or shoes and they tend to suffer from inferiority complex.

Given the above situation, expecting these SC and ST students to fulfill the criteria laid by corporates for campus recruitment would be nothing less than asking for the moon.
 
Most of the jobs offered in on campus placement relate to information technology wherein the employer is on the look out for candidates with  good soft skills,  especially communication skills. Due to their social and economic background, mother tongue  etc, these SC,ST students are not strong enough in this area and consequently, get rejected. Special efforts should be made to improve their soft skills. They should be familiarized with the aptitude tests and equipped with good technical knowledge. Again, owing to their complex, these students turn out to be introverts, mostly, and are not self motivated. When we watch their performance in the GD and HR interviews, we find they suffer from attitudinal problems.

The sad reflection of their performance in campus selection process in any professional college is amply proved by the placement figures of these students. On an average 60% of these students do not qualify for on campus placement because of less percentage of marks or backlog clearance. Even those who participate in the process of placement get disqualified either at the level of written test or GD or tech. or HR interview. Ultimately, some 15 to 20 students of  SC/ST categories succeed and are short listed by the companies that visit the colleges having an intake of 600 in a year. These figures demonstrate the sorry state of affairs of placement rate of SC/ ST students. While the professional colleges boast of around  80% to 90% placement secured, the  share of SC/ST students is poor and disappointing. It is the time to analyze the reasons thereof and provide remedies .

To upgrade the performance of SC,ST  students, to qualify them for campus placement and to see that at least 80 to 90% of SC ,ST students get placement, some special drive/mechanism needs to be evolved and operated.

True, in some cases these students wantonly neglect studies, content with some 50% marks and are not taking backlogs seriously. Without realizing  the gravity of the situation they think that they get good Government jobs with that percentage and performance because, they have reservation for jobs. Thereby, they are loosing chances of occupying high profile jobs with good package and ample opportunities for career growth. Of late the Government has started outsourcing jobs thereby these students lose their chances of being absorbed in Government sector also.  IT sector is fast expanding with lots of jobs for which these SC/ST students are not getting qualified. This anomalous situation can be corrected by adopting the following measures:

Like IITs the SC / ST students who could not fulfill minimum bench mark point in the marks secured by them in the entrance test  should be put through one year bridge course to give necessary inputs to equate them with other category of students in terms of subject knowledge, clarity of concepts, mental ability, language skills, communication skills, making them ready to acquire knowledge by self/team effort.

A deep and thorough career guidance and counseling with industry expectations is to  be provided.

An in depth orientation program is to be given to these SC/ST students for tuning them to correct mindset, positive view of life and faith in self-confidence.

After the college hours these students who are academically backward should be given  extra coaching so that they do not have backlogs , maintain good percentage of marks and clear backlogs in the immediate supplementary exams.

A monitoring cell with required number of qualified and understanding personnel to be created which would maintain the complete personal and academic data of the students with latest updates. This can be outsourced to such agencies having required wherewithal.

365 days, 24 Helpline is to be created or outsourced not only to maintain connectivity with the students but also with parents and institutions they study.
The colleges where they are studying should part with the information  details students viz., marks, backlogs , attendance etc ,to the Helpline agency identified. 
                                  
The latest technology of e-learning, web-based learning using latest electronic gadgets, video conferences etc, to upgrade the academic levels of SC,ST students may be used . Several private companies will come forward to provide this facility Professors from IITS etc may also be requested to deliver lectures and interact with the students.

Periodically subjecting these SC,ST students to life transforming attitude changing personality development courses will free them from the shackles of their complexities, phobia etc.

The college providing special efforts for academic advancement and placement of these students should be recognized and rewarded.

Yearly survey of placements of SC/ST students of professional colleges shall be done by the Govt. departments. A databank of placement details is to be maintained to help the policy makers to take correct decision.

Mentor system to be introduced .For every 20 SC/ST students a Mentor / Proctor to be fixed by the college authorities for their care and concern. The Govt. departments concerned should insist on periodical report from college authorities about the attendance, progress of SC/ST students. Additional financial help should be extended to the needy and deserving by the colleges concerned as a part of the social responsibility.

A close watch is to be maintained on their academic progress. Help from govt./ private study circles may be taken to impart soft skills to enhance their employability levels.