Keeping in mind the declining placement opportunities for engineering graduates, Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) is working on updating its curriculum so that students are industry-ready. The university has established 19 Board of Studies (BOS) committees that will look into framing the syllabus for courses in the third to eighth semesters.
“The new model curriculum has been implemented from the 2018-2019 academic year for first-year students. Curriculum for the next few semesters is being developed by a group of experts. We want it to be industry-oriented and meet the requirements of industry. So we have several members from industry on the board,” said H.N. Jagannath Reddy, Registrar of VTU. He added that faculty members of the Indian Institutes of Technology and the Indian Institute of Science were also on the Board of Studies to weigh in on how the university could improve the standard of the curriculum.
Students will have to complete a mini-project between the fourth and fifth semesters. This is over and above the mandatory final-year projects. “The idea is to find a balance between hands-on experience and theoretical knowledge,” he said.
Sources who were part of the BOS said that the committees were also looking at introducing new computer languages as many that are currently being taught are outdated. Committee members have also suggested a short module on entrepreneurship and an introduction to the startup ecosystem to be made mandatory for students.
“We are also planning to put more emphasis on concepts such as data analytics and virtual laboratory,” a source said.
The move has been welcomed by both faculty members and students, who feel it will be a “refreshing change”.
Sheshadri S., a final-year engineering student, said: “Many of the concepts taught in our classes are obsolete, which we found extremely irrelevant during our internship. Revamping the syllabus is the need of the hour,” he said.