Being technically sound is not the end all and be all. Fluency in English, team spirit and basic communication skills also count a lot.

Be a Specialist and Not Just a Software Engineer

The well known management Guru Peter Drucker once said, “When a subject becomes totally obsolete we make it a required course.” An average time of syllabus revision in many Indian Universities nearing to over 10 years making it redundant and may be irrelevant, we should realize the intensity of Peter Drucker’s statement now.

India is experiencing rapid urbanisation, industrialization and economic liberalisation process coupled with interesting demographic transition. With increasing young population coupled with increase in average life span, opportunities of specialized and relevant education are becoming extremely important. For instance, in today’s ever changing world it is no longer sufficient to just be a successful software engineer graduate. The changing climate in the IT industry is ushering in an age of extreme competition with no room for mediocrity and there is an ever increasing demand for IT specialists.

Issues:
India produces over four lakh engineers a year, yet their competence has become the issue. Recent studies reveal that only one in four engineering graduates is worthy to be employable. The rest were deficient in the required technical skills, fluency in English or ability to work in a team or basic communication skills. There is increasing demand from industry for higher level technical qualifications, driven by technological changes and an increasing reliance on knowledge-based jobs.

The existing university system is not adequate to cater for the new and ever increasing demands especially in the field of emerging technologies, computers, software development, biotechnology, humanities, social sciences, arts and creativity as also the specialised demands of newer business sectors such as banking, retail and telecommunication, the computer science, electronics and electrical engineering final year students that India produces are skilled and knowledgeable, but not very trained for live projects.

They join a local company or an MNC and have to endure rigorous rounds of training before they are capable of handling a project themselves. This training is expensive and time-consuming for the company and also results in a lower starting pay package for the software professional. The limited availability of suitable workforce may be critical bottlenecks in the economy, which is already experienced by the information technology sector. The number of technology jobs is expected to nearly double in the next four years. The corporate sector needs well trained talent and is now keen to collaborate with the universities. The successful technology concerns can not afford to hire only from the most prestigious Indian universities.

Need for training:
At the same time, they can not expect run-of-the mill-graduates to be ready to hit the shop floor. Due to this obvious gap most industries require in-housetraining of two to six months for specific training that enhances the skills learned by a graduate and renders them industry ready from the day they join company. It is evident that the current college curriculum is just not adequate. The need for freshers to under go training when they are first employed, to ensure a smooth transition from student life to work, is proof enough. In reality, although, the number of graduates is increasing, the educated unemployment is also on rise. The corporate sector is unable to get aptly trained human resource especially in the new areas of technology, commerce, hospitality, health care and many such. There is a clear disconnection between the university education and the real market needs.

Finishing Schools:
The solution to this impasse is simple - a finishing school for engineers and other graduates. In such finishing schools, the students will be specially trained to become industry ready. This benefits the employer as it does away with the need for training, and employees would be offered a more attractive salary package and would be involved in high-end, cutting edge technological projects from the beginning. A well structured suitable duration course that approaches education with the real industry needs will make fresh graduates much more employable. It gives them a cutting edge and also ensures that they are up-to-date with all the technological advancements. Companies save time and expenses as their freshers come in fully equipped to handle major tasks. For India to continue to provide the world with topnotch IT professionals, we need to be on top of our game and get our act together. We are home to some of the brightest minds world wide and the continuation of this status is dependant on our education system.

By Dr Bhushan Patwardhan
(The writer is an education consultant.
He can be contactedat:bpatwardhan@gmail.com