01

H.K. Chaudhury, Chairman, Heritage Group of  Institutions, spoke to BE’s Ellora De on pertinent  engineering colleges and courses in India.

Q.  To what extent is the curriculum of engineering colleges in India application-based?

A. The engineering colleges are using very old curricula whereas industries are going through changes every day. Technologies have evolved. But these changes are not reflected in the curriculum, which lack practicality and objectivity. But this can be bridged, to a large extent, by internship programmes.

Q.  How is your institute helping students to inculcate natural ability and aptitude?

A. Many students want to opt for popular streams like electronics and telecommunications and mechanical engineering without assessing their natural ability. Heritage tries to guide students towards their natural aptitude. We also help students to develop general awareness on national and international issues in addition to their courses, which is essential to crack the interviews.

Q. We have many engineering colleges but employment opportunities are not proportionately placed. Your views?

A.  There are plenty of engineering colleges. Every year, the number of graduate engineers exceeds the requirement of new engineers. Students and their parents should think about courses other than engineering, keeping in mind the students’ aptitudes. The younger generation should also be encouraged to take up entrepreneurship. The problem of unemployability can be solved by encouraging entrepreneurship.

Q. How is your institution dealing with the placement factor?

A. Heritage has almost 100% placement opportunity. There are people associated with our institute who have good liaison with the industrial sector. That helps in securing placements. Our institution also works to groom students according to the  industry requirements. Firstly, we find what is the student’s inclination and accordingly, guide him/her.  We also insist on hands-on training and industry exposure.