About 500 engineering colleges have downed their shutters due to seat vacancies in the last five years
Nagpur: The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), with a view to enhancing the employability of students, has introduced a new concept. Any student doing the main engineering course can study an emerging branch and get a minor degree for the same.
Explaining the concept, Dr. Anil Sahasrabudhe, Chairman of AICTE said, “Suppose a student is doing Mechanical Engineering, he or she can simultaneously study any emerging branch-like Artificial Intelligence or Machine Learning or Data Sciences or Robotics, etc. The student can get a major degree in Mechanical Engineering and a minor degree in the emerging branch.”
Dr. Sahasrabudhe was interacting with media persons at the Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT ) Auditorium on Sunday. He was in the city to attend the fourth conference of Academic Leadership- 2022 organized by Research For Resurgence Foundation (RFRF), VNIT, Bharatiya Shikshan Manch. A candidate with such a qualification is always welcomed by any big company, feels DrSahasrabudhe. “Dual-degree will make the student more equipped. Of course, he has to walk the extra mile daily. Finally, hard work has no alternative, and results are always better,” said Dr. Sahasrabudhe.
Another student-centric issue that AICTE has introduced is multiple entries and multiple exits. “If a student after completing two years during a degree engineering course wishes to leave the course halfway he or she will be allowed to do so. He or she will have to do one bridge course for the duration of 2-3 months. We will give them certificates that will help him in adding to or their profile. This is called exit. If the student wants to re-join the course after some years, the student can do it only after completing the bridge course. Bridge course is prepared in such a way that the student should get well connected to the course while re-joining,” explained Dr. Sahasrabudhe.
To resolve the issue of seat vacancies in engineering colleges, AICTE has stopped approving new colleges. According to Dr. Sahasrabudhe in the last five years, almost 500 colleges have downed their shutters. With the reduction in colleges, the issue of seat vacancy would automatically get resolved, felt Dr. Sahasrabudhe. Now students can have multidisciplinary education. If a student studying engineering wishes to learn economics, music, commerce, and arts he or she can do that. These students have to do several projects which are inclusive of other subjects too. These students can be able to face global challenges. Their perspective will not be limited to engineering alone. This approach will increase the efficiency of the students, elaborated Dr. Sahasrabudhe.
