30% of IT engineers lack basic computer programming knowledge: Aspiring Minds

Nearly 30% of computer science/IT engineers do not know basic theoretical concepts used in computer programming, says a report by Aspiring Minds, an employability solutions company.

The report, said Aspiring Minds, is the first pan India study that examines the capability of engineering students in computer programming at the end of their undergraduate education.

"Computer programming skill is the key foundational skill required by the IT industry and also covered by academic curriculum. Yet, we find only 14.97% of IT specialization students exhibiting skills to write a simple program, while 70% of them show theoretical understanding. Clearly, the problem is rote learning. This needs to be fixed without any delay by a fresh impetus by institutions and use of technology-based learning and assessment”, said Varun Aggarwal, co-Founder and CTO, Aspiring Minds.

Computer programming and Algorithm Design are the most common denominators required vitally amongst IT professionals.

However, 50% to 60% of CS/IT engineers do not understand subtleties of programming concepts, while more than 80% are unable to apply them to real-world situations. Only 14.97% of the engineers are able to do application of programming constructs, which are of routine use in the industry.

The Computer Programming Learning Levels, Engineering Graduates- Annual Report, 2013 draws inference from data from more than 55000 engineering students across India from over 250 engineering colleges.