Industry-focused curriculum is need of the hour: GESIA

If typical cost-cutting measures were not enough, IT companies in Gujarat are now looking at other avenues to better productivity in these tough times. IT companies in the state are in talks with universities and educational institutions to bridge the gap between curriculum and industry requirements.

“We are interacting with universities and institutes to lessen the gap between curriculum and industry requirements. It has been observed that when pass-outs join IT organisations as recruits they are unable to be productive from the first day itself. This is due to the gap between what is being taught in the classrooms and the IT industry’s requirements. We are, therefore, working to frame a structure where this gap can be bridged,” said Nirav Shah, president of Gujarat Electronics and Software Industries Association (GESIA), the industry body of IT companies in the state.

According to Shah, the association is working on developing interactive models to work in tandem with educational institutions. “The model has to be broad and not focusing on any particular segment of the industry. It should not be that only business process outsourcing (BPO) companies are able to find trained recruits and not software products companies,” he added.

Through such talks, industry players also intend to bring down the opportunity cost involved in extensive training programmes in the organisations. “It takes a lot of time to train fresh recruits and make them work. The opportunity cost that we have to bear due to extended training sessions at times is as high as Rs 60,000-70,000.

Therefore, we have been taking help of experts in institutes like National Institute of Design (NID), Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology (DAIICT) and others to enhance our knowledge about curriculum and vice-versa,” said Pranit Bhanthia, chief executive officer of Ahmedabad-based Hi Tech Outsourcing Services.

Similarly, software company Elitecore Technologies is working with a state government-financed industrial training institute (ITI) to design its curriculum.