How will Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) ensure that its engineering students are industry-ready when they graduate? By getting the teaching faculty ready first.
Lecturers will now have to give up on chalk and blackboard and spend time in laboratories or at construction sites. The university plans to ask engineering colleges to send some of their teaching staff to work in industries for a period ranging from six months to one year. The faculty would be asked to work on the lines of internship — without remuneration from the company since they will get paid leave.
Karisiddappa, Vice-Chancellor of VTU, told The Hindu that while ensuring some of their faculty members work in industries, colleges should also allow them to go on paid leave for the duration. “We have had several meetings to brainstorm how students can be made more employable and this was the solution that we arrived at. Currently, much of the classroom interactions between lecturers and students are very bookish. This is set to change if lecturers go and work in industries and get updated with the latest technology and work culture,” he said.
The Vice-Chancellor also said that lecturers could opt for short stints in industries connected with their domain knowledge. “A lecturer teaching computer science should work in one of the software companies or a biotechnology professor can work in a laboratory or food industry. We will soon send guidelines that colleges and lecturers should keep in mind while finalising on the company where they will be working,” he said.
Sanjeev Kubakaddi, executive council member of the university, acknowledged that this would “fine-tune the teaching learning process.” He said: “ It is good because teachers will get first-hand experience. It will certainly help them tweak their teaching methodology based on the experience.” While college managements too feel that this is a good move, they say that the high attrition rate among faculty members may be a matter of concern. “We are ready to implement this. But what do we do if the teacher after a one-year stint with the industry joins another organisation,” a city-based college principal asked.
Prof. Karisiddappa said that college managements should encourage this practice if they wish to improve quality. To bring a balance in the faculty strength, he said that colleges should also rope in industry experts as 20% of their faculties. “Even the All-India Council of Technical Education encourages this practice and colleges should invite industry experts to deliver lecturers,” he said.