Industry body to play a role in technical education

Efforts are afoot to link technical education with industrial advancement, for better technical training in Uttarakhand.

The Industries Association of Uttarakhand (IAU), an organisation of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), will soon sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the University of Petroleum and Energy Studies. Under the MoU, IAU will organise workshops and conferences, and provide inputs from experts for curriculum development. There will be lectures from experts in the institutes and joint research programmes.

Besides, IAU will have a role in areas like exploratory work, involvement of experts and representatives of industry, as well as placements in these institutes.

“In a knowledge society, industries are the main users and beneficiaries of such knowledge. Hence, what we have today is a growing skills gap, reflecting the inadequate availability of high-quality education in India. The university-industry interaction is of mutual benefit, as it provides industry with an opportunity for business to grow through academic inputs, including consultancy,” said IAU President Pankaj Gupta.

At the same time, universities and other educational/technical institutes look for partners who can take the research work to the market and suggest changes in the curriculum accordingly, he said. “We can take this opportunity to enhance the scope of R&D and provide technical training and better placements,” said Gupta.