Enough has been said about how there are few engineering students who graduate ready for the industry. Every year about 1.7 Million Engineering students complete their graduation.
According to India Today & Aspiring Mind’s Study, only 7 percent of that number are employable. A Times of India article published in July 2014 states that a meager 18.33% of engineering graduates are employable.
What could be the reason for such miserable statistics?
Well, the fault is not in our stars. Rather, they are in our education system. This is so because there are blatant flaws within that very system that cause cracks and ridges, allowing young aspiring minds to slip into a state of “unpreparedness”.
Despite going to college and trying to listen in class, people still graduate unequipped for the real world. In the following points, I have listed some of these flaws under two major headings:
Lack of quality education and poor student work-ethics.
Lack of quality engineering education.
- In a time when even some schools have smart classes and access to technology-based education. The truth remains that many engineering colleges in our country today run on poor infrastructure, obsolete labs and a complete lack of new technology that may boost the learning environment.
- Adding to this, students are often made to learn in excessively large classrooms. Classes of 60-80 people where they get no individual attention whatsoever.
- Then, there’s the fact that the syllabus of most institutions remains unchanged and outdated!
You wonder why graduates are caught unaware about the latest developments in technology and engineering?
Well, it’s the outdated syllabus. Too many a time, students are stuck learning about things no longer relevant to this present day and age. - Unavailability of young and dynamic professors is a big factor. Students would benefit far more from faculty that they could relate to and who would make learning fun and interesting.
- Coaching centers are almost as bad as classrooms as they also have large groups of 100-150 students studying under a single instructor. Moreover, there is added pressure on the students to perform, not really to learn.
- There is also an overwhelming amount of “online help” available now. However, not all of it is exactly helpful. The flood of free materials and tutorials online, while helpful to an extent are not entirely beneficial. This is because they are without mentoring or guidance.
Moreover, there is a lack of fact-checking on the part of the students. Not every online forum or site is legitimate and relevant.
Poor student work ethics
- Perhaps, it is because there is no motivation or incentive for the students to learn that we now have a problem of student work ethic. The fact is that students often purchase projects and assignments that they have to make.
The fact that such ready-made projects exist is one point to question in our education system! - There is also rampant plagiarism as students find it easier to download/ copy from information online, changing the attributions and certifications at the most.
At this point, education seems rather gloomy and without hope. Maybe you are right in thinking that we are a long way from correcting most of these flaws. However, it is good to know that there are certain ways we can overcome or at least minimize the effect of some of the gaps in our education system.
Some solutions are as follows:
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Government policy
The Education Department of the various states and the HRD Ministry at the Centre can work together to bring about a change in the way the education in our nation works.
Simple measures like placing certain standards and parameters for the setting up of institutes or starting a central evaluation system. It can standardize and check the quality of education at existing institutes can make a big change.
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Parental Support
The family is a major factor that can influence kids who end up becoming engineering graduates. Parents can help their children make the right choices and to stay motivated to excel without excessive pressure either.
Being an Engineer is a kind of cultural norm now?
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Corporate Help
The Corporate sector can provide opportunities for students to access vocational training. They can set examples in giving opportunities to talented ones to intern and learn without focusing only on their academic scores. Young engineers can provide their guidance to students and become industry mentors!
The three points above could have given you some hope on education in India. But what can you do right now to help yourself?
If you’re an engineering student and want to prepare for the industry culture and increase your employability, there are ways you can do it.
Unconventional Education
Just because the education system in itself may not be doing too well, it doesn’t mean you cannot do well either! That is why I am going show a secret magic potion that will help you your target.
Well, not really.
The answer is actually simple. Go for an online course that is different and unconventional because it will help you not only through tutorials and the like. Rather, it will give access to an industry expert who will become your own personal mentor who will help you learn step-by-step.
You’ll also get to learn from curated resources, work on real-world capstone projects and practice mock interviews.
But where in the world would you get this fantastic option?
Look no further, InternStreet is your answer. Now, this may seem like a shameless advertisement at this point. But believe me, it’s the kind of opportunity that deserves a shoutout. There are a few options for you to try out.
It can help you master skills in tech, design and marketing with mentorship from Industry experts. It doesn’t get better than this.
Go for the Web Design Bootcamp to give you the skills to professionally design web sites and create an amazing portfolio of your works, Front End development that will teach the core of web front end, Digital Marketing and UI/UX Design. These online courses are the best kind. You’ll actually get 1-on-1 mentoring via Skype calls along with a project based curriculum!
Grab hold of opportunities like this because this may change the way you look at education and industry as a whole.
Conclusion:
Don’t get bogged down by the flaw. Reach for the stars. Know that change is possible even though it seems like it is at the far end of the tunnel. But be aware of the fact that the system is flawed. Ignorance is not bliss. Always be on your toes. Know what your options are. Then, go ahead and catch hold of your dreams.
Become the engineer you want to be.