(a) the number of students of the engineering colleges of the country who are able to get a job;
(b) the steps taken/being taken by the Government to increase the percentage of employment of such engineering students;
(c) whether the Government proposes to set up Finishing School in collaboration with the private sector; and
(d) if so, the details thereof?
MINISTER OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
(SHRI RAMESH POKHRIYAL ‘NISHANK’)
(a) to (d): A statement is laid on the table of the House.
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) TO (d) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 302 FOR 15.07.2019 ASKED BY SHRI RAMCHARAN BOHRA REGARDING JOBS FOR ENGINEERING STUDENTS.
(a) & (b) : The details regarding students completing their Engineering Degree from the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) approved Engineering Colleges and from Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), National Institutes of Technology (NITs), Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs) are as follows:
<pre>
AICTE approved institutions
Sl. No. Academic Year Number of students graduated Number of students placed through campus placement
1 2017-18 7,92,970 3,59,193
2 2018-19 Not available 4,00,823
IITs, NITs, IIITs
3 2018-19 23,298 17,946
</pre>
These figures do not include the students who got jobs directly, without going through campus placements, who are self-employed and those who had taken to higher studies. The employment of engineering graduates is dependent on economic growth and increased employment opportunities as a result of economic activities and hence keeps varying. With Government of India targeting a high growth path, the employment opportunities shall increase. However, to impart the requisite skill set to engineering students to enhance their employability and bridge the gap between industry needs and academic inputs to students provided in technical institutes, AICTE has taken the following initiatives:
(i) Preparation of outcome based Model Curriculum.
(ii) Mandatory internship as a part of curriculum.
(iii) Preparation of Perspective Plan, as per which AICTE will not allow new conventional disciplines with low employment potential from the academic year 2020-21 and will allow only new and emerging fields like Artificial Intelligence(AI), Internet of Things(IoT), Block chain, Robotics, Quantum Computing, Data Sciences, Cyber Security, 3D Printing & Design, Augmented Reality/ Virtual Reality etc. with high employment potential.
(iv) Initiatives for Teachers’ Training for enhancing their core skills and make them up-to-date with latest teaching methods.
(v) Mandatory signing of at least 5 Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) with Industry.
(vi) Encourage institutions for accreditation of courses to improve quality of education.
(vii) Start-up initiatives to promote entrepreneurial ecosystem.
(viii) Organisation of Smart India Hackathons to encourage innovations and act as funnel for “Startup India”.
(ix) Industry readiness cell in each institute to strengthen industry institute links.
(x) Introduction of mandatory induction programme for students / career counselling.
The Government of India is also implementing Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP) Phase-III, a partly World Bank financed project, to enhance quality, equity and employability in selected engineering education institutes and improve the efficiency of the engineering education system in the country. Under the programme, the institutions are given financial support to improve their quality. Students of institutions under TEQIP also visit Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs)/National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and Research & Development facilities to increase their exposure. AICTE has partnered with Wheebox, a Global talent assessment company and its consortium partners United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Association of Indian Universities (AIU), People Strong and LinkedIn to build & publish the “India Skills Report 2019”. Wheebox conducts Employability Skill Test (WEST) for all pre-final and final year graduates of AICTE approved institutes. The outcome of the test will help the institute to identify core strength and improvement areas of their students in the form of transcript and certification (Jointly certified by CII & AIU). The results of these initiatives are being reflected in the employability enhancement of the students as per India Skills Report, published in November 2018, which indicates that around 57 percent of the final year engineering graduates are found to be employable, an increase of about 5 percentage points since last year.
(c) & (d): In the year 2013, AICTE revamped its finishing school scheme and renamed it as Employability Enhancement Training Program (EETP). The aim of the scheme is to enhance employment amongst the recently graduated engineering students by imparting business and soft skills for sustained performance and to meet growing industry demands. Under the scheme, AICTE has signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Information & Communication Technology (ICT) Academy. Students of AICTE approved colleges are trained in BSNL Training Centres on State of the art telecom equipments, while ICT Academy provide training to students of AICTE approved colleges of North –East region under EETP.