Quality missing in techical education: Pallam Raju

Union HRD Minister Pallam Raju today said the quality of technical education in the country should be improved and graduates should be given skill training to equip them meet requirements of industry.
Though the number of engineering graduates passing out annually in the country was high, majority of them were not "industry-ready" to meet the demands expected by their employers, Raju said, after inaugurating the new regional office of All India Council For Technical Education here.
"The technical eduacation sector in the country is in the growth path. Though ours is one of the largest technical education sectors in the world and the number of engineering graduates passing out annually are very high, the quality factor is missing," he said.

"Parameters should be set to improve the quality of students and the faculty of the sector. Institutions in the rural, backward and underprivileged areas should be given more focus since they may not be able to cater to all stringent requirements demanded by AICTE," he said.
The AICTE was looking forward for more tie-ups with industry players to impart its graduates skill training to equip them to fulfill the demands of their employers, he said.
"As majority of our engineering graduates are not industry-ready, the employers are forced to give them special training to equip them to meet their demands. It is a shortcoming of our technical education system," he said.

AICTE recently had a tie-up with BSNL on this mode, he said.

Echoing his opinion, Union Minister of State for HRD Shasi Tharoor said a collaboration of academia and industry should be promoted to improve quality of technical education.
He also said with the coming up of the new regional office of AICTE at Sreekaryam near here, the stakeholders of the state and Lakshadweep need not travel to its Bangalore office to fulfil their requirements.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and AICTE Chairman Dr S S Mantha also attended the function.