Solution to the engineering sector: Infrastructure, not buzzwords 

Source: The post is based on the article “Solution to the engineering sector: Infrastructure, not buzzwords” published in the Indian Express on 29^th July 2022.

Syllabus: GS 2 Issues Relating to Development and Management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

Relevance: Higher Education Reforms

News: In a recent interview, the AICTE Chairman said, “the economy can’t run only on computer science or electronics, it requires civil and mechanical engineering, too”.

What are the issues in the core-engineering disciplines like civil and mechanical engineering in India?

The institutions are shutting down the mechanical and civil engineering disciplines due to a lack of demand from students.

One of the “problems” is that the curricula of such conventional disciplines are “outdated”. The institutions do not impart the spirit of entrepreneurship.

There is a lack of industry readiness in students graduating from civil and mechanical engineering disciplines.

The student lacks interest in core engineering courses based on their perceptions about the “job market”. Either there are not enough jobs to absorb the civil and mechanical engineers, or, the jobs so created are so low paying that these engineers prefer to become coders and analysts.

Most conventional engineering industries in India are quite backward. Such companies thrive on licenced or purchased technology and have little interest in anything advanced or cutting edge. These industries are involved in little or no research and development (R&D) activities themselves.

Some arguments against encouraging start-ups and entrepreneurship in the core engineering disciplines

Start-ups are not and never will be a solution to the unemployment crisis that is going on in these disciplines.

In fact, merely establishing innovation councils or organizing hackathons does not do anything to unleash any real innovation. Unsurprisingly, in almost all cases the great “innovative idea” of the start-up has nothing to do with the engineering discipline the student comes from.

What should be done?

The core concepts of any conventional engineering branch do not get outdated as is often argued. However, new fields like Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), and virtual reality (VR) among others can be added to the course as elective courses in the curriculum.

The teacher training should be provided to improve engineering education like routine skills, making lesson plans, using audio-visual devices, incorporating AI/ML/VR in classrooms, etc.

In order to promote critical thinking, analytical ability, data analytics, creativity, etc., efforts should be made to reform the rote-learning system that prevails in school education in India.

The government should address faculty shortages, severe shortfalls in infrastructure, and funding needed for their development, in the institutions.

To create more jobs in core engineering, we need more well-paid jobs, competitive and creative ones. For this, the government should promote a large expansion of the manufacturing and infrastructure sectors in India.