For aeons, the employability of engineering students has been a concern considering the
stagnant projections of the same over the past decade. Regardless of the revolutionized
professional courses and their respective syllabus, the odds of getting employment are quite
perturbing. This in consequence begs the question, what efforts would make this scenario
better?
There are many possible solutions to this question and the most adaptable recourse being- the
introduction of Value Addition Programs/Courses (VAPs). These courses are nothing but an
enhancement and an additional reinforcement to prosper an individual’s skills and knowledge
while they simultaneously pursue their education.
In accordance with surveys conducted by the HRD involving around 150,000 students. The
6,214 engineering & technology institutions gain an enrolment of around 2.9 million students
and only 1.5 million students are found to be competent enough to get employed. To bring to
light, the core engineering branches consisted only 7 percent of qualified students, making it
the most appalling fact of the current times. These statistical facts are the result of the lack of
‘employability skills. India’s workforce is expected to grow by 1.08 billion by the year 2050
taking in account that there 650 million youth in this nation under the age of 25 and 850
million people under the age of 35. As per the reports by The Centre for Monitoring Indian
Economy, as of December 2021, one in five graduates are unemployed. India is a youth-
driven country i.e., around 50 percent of the country’s population is under the age of 25, this
makes India the bootstrapper.
Addressing these statistics, it is the need of the hour to implement programs or courses which
inculcate the hands-on skills in students to make them industry ready. Introduction of VAPs
will help the students to embrace their skills and excel in their specific disciplines and not
institutions would not be just mass-producing graduates who have no flair and the ones’ who
had it, get subdued.
The introduction of ‘Skill India Program’ or PMKVY programs, has ameliorated this plight
to a considerable extend, transforming 45.9 percent of the students into employable, industry-
ready graduates. This beats the 33 percent mark of students’ employability which was
recorded in 2014.
The survey “National Employability Report Engineers Annual Report 2019” included the
data of more than 1.70 lakh engineering students from 750 engineering colleges. It claimed
that in India nearly 90.92 percent of engineers did not posses the desired algorithm and
programming skills which are crucial to be able to work in IT firms. It was also noted that
even after engineering being an application- based (hands-on based) field, barely 40 percent
of students did internships during their ongoing educational courses.
There are assuredly multiple candidates applying for the same position in most of the
companies who can have similar academic credentials. However, in present times, the
industries demand more than what is coached in the institutions. Value Addition Programs are
the routes to make students meet these ancillary demands. The employers are sure to give due
consideration to a ‘Value-added’ student who can offer stupendous contributions to the
company by his extravagant skills, temperament, experience (training) accompanying his
academic credentials.
The VAPs are specially tailored for the students to embellish their qualifications and to stand
out from the multitude. To meet the requirements of industry, engineering graduates must
have certain value addition certification awarded to them after being effectively trained by
the institutions which will also prove helpful for increasing the effectiveness of the teaching-
learning process of educational institutions and to link the industry and the academia.
These courses will prepare students for jobs and may possibly inspire them to embark on
start-ups. Like everything else, the market has been modernized, and so have the means to
work on it. Traditional marketing has given its place to digital marketing just like Google
provides a platform for businesses to market and sell their products.
To support the course, a number of organizations have launched their own, free of charge,
courses. Google, for example, offers Digital Marketing Fundamentals certifications,
certification in Analytics and other advertising courses. On the other hand, Facebook, a
popular social networking site, offers a certification program called Facebook Blueprint and
Hub Spot which provides comprehensive sales and content writing programs. As a result, the
introduction of these programs at an undergraduate level, will expose students to the practical
side of how marketing is performed today, allowing them to develop a talent that is in high
demand in the industry.
Furthermore, students who are passionate about the finance or commerce may be offered a
course in business and finance where they can learn about the banking sector, stocks and
bond markets simultaneously. As far as the enterprises are concerned, they have observed the
cruciality of having an effective investment manager. Investment is a necessity which is been
called for, and the student(s) with skills to facilitate it will be able to function well in a
financial environment with the correct theories and empirical guidance. They will have the
ability to launch their own enterprises and continue to employ others, not being the employee
but the employer.
Once the student has the necessary competence, industries will be open to them, offering
extra possibilities that will help him advance in his career. Since market demands are
continually evolving, they look for capabilities rather than certificates. Merely posting
certifications to a profile won’t cut it because businesses care about their balance sheet and
want to make a fortune, which can only happen if their employees have the essential
competencies that can be honed with knowledge and experience. Numerous short-term
courses have been established as a result of PMKVY to encourage students to develop their
expertise. Along the same lines, institutions should prepare to launch specific skill-
development programmes that align with the curriculum and the field in which students
envision a career.
The industry has witnessed growth in all disciplines in ever corner, starting with recruitment,
which has already adopted digital formats as marketing channels. Even businesses are open to
share technologies that help improve their workflows and production. Likewise, why
shouldn’t our education policy be upgraded? Providing the pupils, the resources they need to
pursue their future goals. After taking these value-added courses, apprenticeships should be
available to students in order to assess the curriculum’s emphasis on exposure and expertise
as well. This will effectively defend the purpose of these programmes. Additionally, it will
advance the goal of providing students with the ideal combination of technical and
employable abilities. Ergo, this implementation of VAPs is undisputable in my eyes and for
our society, our nation to evolve to heights never dreamt of, I plea the institutions to train and
educate students not for credentials but for their as well as their nations’ betterment.
Prof. (Dr.) Dipak P. Patil
Principal, Sandip Institute of Engineering and Management, Nashik.
