Dr (Mrs) Manasvi M Kamat
The recent news reported that as many as 4.91 lakh graduate engineers and another 41,000 post graduate engineers applied among the two crore odd applicants for 62,907 posts level-1 posts in Indian railways. The posts were to be to become gangman, cabinman, helpers, keyman, trackman and welders where the minimum qualification was Class X pass and a certificate from the National Council on Vocational Training or ITI, or have a National Apprenticeship Certificate.The other shocker was that of the revelations in National Employability Report for Engineers, published in March 2019. The ï¬fth edition of this report bought by ‘Aspiring Minds’ find that 80 percent of Indian engineers are not fit for any job in the knowledge economy. This report further noted that 50 percent Indian engineers lacked basic English skills. It is also found that sixty percent of faculty does not discuss how engineering concepts apply to industry.
Are the engineers applying for menial positions only because they can’t get jobs of the engineers, are the question the engineering educators have to answer now. At least from the study it prima facie seems that the Indian higher education system has not been helped by the small ad-hoc changes to which it is accustomed, and is rather in need of a fundamental change.
The National Employability Report claims to be most authoritative audit of engineering education providing a comprehensive data-based understanding of the higher education and employment ecosystem.
This report is based on a sample of more than 170,000 engineering students from 750+ engineering colleges across multiple Indian States. The entire sample group graduated in 2018. The report also includes a section that compares India’s performance with China with a sample size of around 30,000 and the USA with sample size of over 40,000 and assesses employability gaps among various candidate groups and in tailoring interventions to address them.
The report brings in some important findings. The first one is a shocker. Report observes that the past nine years have brought no change in the employability of Indian engineering graduates and second being that engineers score very low in next-gen technological skills particularly in data engineering, data science, artificial intelligence and wireless.
The third value addition of the report provides a glimpse into how the skills of Indian engineers compare with the skills of engineers in the US and China. According to the findings of the survey, India is ahead of China when it comes to coding skills as the number of Indians who can code properly is bigger than those in China. Around 4.7 percent of Indian applicants for software engineering jobs possess the ability to write functionally correct code while in comparison a mere 2.1 percent of Chinese software jobseekers have similar skills. However the not so good aspect is that India has way smaller a number of engineers who can write a compliable code. 37.7% of Indian engineers fail on this front, while the figure is much smaller for China at 10.35.
The report also shows that the U.S beats both India and China hands down in this area. 18.8 persons of American techies can write functionally and logically correct code, and only 4.1 persons of them falter at writing compliable code. The results simply mean that the American engineers are a way ahead of his Indian or Chinese counterpart when it comes to these two key domains, and may have a significant impact on the Indian and Chinese engineers seeking jobs in the US.
Report once again reiterates that engineering education in our country is theory-based with not more than 40 percent of students perform internships and merely 36 percent students undertake projects beyond their required coursework. Also highlighted is the apathy of our students in attending industry talks.
Engineering students in India further struggle during their placements. Approximately 40 per cent of students reported that their primary challenge is finding the right company or the most suitable job profile to apply. Their second challenge was to secure and pass an interview. The report suggests that our students need counseling to understand the kinds of jobs that are available; how to determine which job profiles match their interests and skills; the skill gaps that may disqualify them; and how to address those skill gaps.
The important learning for us is that the increasing use of automation in industry can’t be stopped but the breaks can be applied to the massive number of ‘unprepared’ young Indians coming onto the job market. Recruiters in India can no longer afford to just rely on cheap labor; they need skilled labor and better infrastructure to drive technological innovations and increase productivity. The responsibility now falls on the students themselves, the educators and the government.
The educators would better serve the intellectual and creative development of their students if they provide mechanisms by which students could connect with industries in the local ecosystem. Similarly, Indian higher education should develop scalable web-based mechanisms to connect students with national and international companies and institutions. Systematic intervention from the government is needed to attract high achievers to teaching careers. Similarly regulatory hurdles are to be addressed if the government wants to see more companies setting up establishments and in expanding their base.
The recent CMIE estimates based on household surveys, shows 31.2 million people were actively looking for jobs in February this year. With no change in the employability prospects of Indian engineering graduates in the past nine years and a handful of them possessing next-gen tech skills, what else can one expect?
