CURRENT SITUATION OF SKILLS AND EMPLOYABILITY IN INDIA: ENGINEERING EDUCATION PERSPECTIVE

Jagdeep Singh 1 and Mamta Kumari 2 . 1. PhD Scholar, PAHER University, Udaipur. 2. Assistant Professor, Junagadh Agricultural University, Amreli. ...................................................................................................................... Manuscript Info Abstract ......................... ........................................................................ Manuscript History Received: 10 September 2019 Final Accepted: 12 October 2019 Published: November 2019

The world becomes smaller place on earth and competition increases, everyone has to compete as no one has choice to complain. This is quite true in engineering education as well. Engineering is one of the oldest field exists on earth. It should be considered as the ‗father' of human development as it exists in all fields whether it is engineering, medical, education, commerce, or any other fields etc. Being so much demanding field of study, it is not growing in a way as desired due to skills among the graduates, technological changes, and the scope of employability. Methodology used in this study is to collect secondary data and analyze it for conclusion & recommendations. This study attempts to understand the current situation of skills and employability among the engineering graduates in India. After a rigorous review of literature, it is found that the majority of engineering passed graduates do not contain right, and required skills for the job they apply. It is also found that most of the candidates learn while they earn and grow as professional in the private or government jobs. This study proposed a framework of skills and employability to bridge the gaps and also proposed a career decision process for engineering graduates so that they could be able to choose right path! Right future career! This study concluded that educational Institutes and Industries should come together and make joint efforts to develop a curriculum so that it makes employable India and hence nations progressive growth. This study may help engineering graduates, students who are willing to jump into engineering field, Government organizations related to engineering education, educationists and industries.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….... Introduction:-
Engineering is one of the oldest field exists on earth. It should be considered as the ‗father' of human development as it exists in all fields whether it is engineering, medical, education, commerce, or any other fields etc. Engineering is used in all fields and hence we could say that its scope is extremely broad and diverse. Globalization and technology have twisted India into knowledge driven economy. Success of any nation is not only driven by the Technical knowledge, innovation, and participation by the people of the nation but also by the capabilities of the people, and higher education (especially engineering education). India has done phenomenally well in creating large infrastructure across the country to publicize engineering education in every State year after year. However we ISSN: 2320-5407 Int. J. Adv. Res. 7(11), 422-433 423 found the gap in terms of the skills and employability and hence we need to facilitate quality and accredited technical education at scale so that India could able to cater the next-generation of engineering skill requirements. (Reddy, 2018) The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has been ably spearheading the planning, formulation, and dissemination of technical education across India. Over the years, it has undertaken several proactive steps for the growth of engineering education, maintenance of standards, and to keep the curricula current and relevant. (IndiaTodayWebDesk, 2017) Many policies have been changed and introduced new ones in past 3 years. Union Education Minister and all states are free to initiate more education policies. The Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) is the highest advisory body to advise the Central and State Governments. AICTE does not allow arts and science courses in engineering institution as it does not approve these courses however if institute has additional infrastructure apart from fulfilling AICTE rules & regulations, it may run other courses in same adjacent premise. Queries related to portal could be sent to: helpdesk1@aicte-india.org and Queries related to AICTE approval could be sent to:helpdeskab@aicte-india.org. National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS) is very important for developing future workforce. Haryana has mandated its departments to hire 10% of total workforce including contractual or outsourced manpower under NAPS scheme. Currently, only 230000 trade apprentices are undergoing apprenticeship training in 30 to 165 establishments across the country because of lack of awareness about new regulations. Indian government would increase the engagement of apprentices to 50 lakh cumulatively by 2020. Cities which have more employment prospects and employability are Bengaluru, Chennai, Indore, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, New Delhi, Pune, and Tiruchirappalli etc. There will be an impact of automation on job markets and employability as well. Graduates who will possess the right skills will be absorbed by the industry. The technologies such as robotics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning will be crucial for future and hence students need to be ready to take up the future challenges and groom themselves. (Mohanty & Dash, 2016) Engineering education in India faces significant challenges as it needs to meet the demands of technical profession and emerging job market. Presently, e-learners and online consumers are increasing year on year, for which it has to update digital world. Technical faculty must learn the innovative approaches to teaching and learning, which in turn will need effective professional development for both new and experienced instructors alike.

Definition of Skills and employability Skill:
Skill is an ability and capacity acquired through deliberate, systematic, and sustained effort to smoothly and adaptively carryout complex activities or job functions involving ideas (cognitive skills), things (technical skills), and/or people (interpersonal skills).
Employability: ‗ Ability to gain initial employment, maintains employment, and obtains new employment if required. In simple terms, employability is about being capable of getting and keeping fulfilling work. -Employability is having a set of skills, knowledge, understanding and personal attributes.'

Education and employability
The term ‗employability' indicates that an individual possesses abilities, skills, and attributes to get a employment, and to be successful in his/her profession, which will lead to overall progress of the nation. Employee must deliver what is expected from him/her by the industry. Although, education and employability are two separate things, but it has been assumed since long that possessing a higher degree will offer a guarantee of getting a handsome employment. Everyone expects that higher education institutes must function in such a way to develop employability among the students in respective fields of study.

Role of Higher Education, particularly engineering education in India
Higher education plays an important role in nation building. In higher education, specially, technical (engineering) education is accountable for preparing the next generation of government executives, business leaders, and educators. Engineering education plays a fundamental role in knowledge driven societies.

Who can enroll in engineering education?
Normally, A student who has PCM (Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics) in his/her 12 th (10+2) may enroll in engineering programme (BE/B.Tech) in a college/University. There may be percentage criteria to get into engineering. General percentage in 10+2 should be at least 50% marks however it varies based on category and individual university/college rules. Percentage (10+2) eligible criteria for Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) are 424 60%. There are many modes of admission like direct admission, admission based on 10+2 percentage merit, or admission through entrance exam. There are various entrance exams such as IIT-JEE, AIEEE etc.

Study Methodology:-
The objective of the study was to understand the gaps in skills & employability of engineering graduates in India and hence data collection and analysis was done and found multiple gaps. Results reviewed and the recommendations were put forward for improvements through the educationalists, Government and Industries. Finally, the research was concluded. Bullet Points of the methodology are given below: 1. Data Collection and Analysis 2. Gap Analysis and Recommendations 3. Conclusion

Data collection and Analysis:-
Data collection is done through the secondary sources such as AICTE website, various reports, and other authentic websites. Most of the data used is from AICTE website. Data analysis found many trends as per graphs from 1 to 5. Major trends are placements are decreasing, enrolments are decreasing, and institutes are shutting down.     Total Institutions  3400  2338  3799  9537  6385  New Institutions  46  3  103  152  152  Closed Institutions  15  5  5  25  18  426   Total Intake  1705437 215550 1261788 3182775  3182775  Girl's Enrolment  240177  50014  112278  402469  402469  Boy's Enrolment  635057  72648  629332  1337037  1337037  Faculty (Teachers)  389711  54213  114007  557931  557931  #Students Passed  760413  84071  424648  1269132  1269132  Placement  335404  22935  155335 513674 513674     highlights that nearly 50% of the applicants appearing for the interview either do not meet the skills requirement or some may possess the required skills to meet the basic requirement of employers.

Is our education system OK and do educational institutes having capable trainers?
This question is very much valid and every engineering student should ask to their respective institutes. There are huge gaps of required skills among the trainers which create gaps and contribute in producing unskilled engineering graduates. Trainer must be equipped with all skills, experience, knowledge and more over lecture delivery skills required to polish to the student's for better tomorrow. Every individual institute must follow AICTE norms and must have skilled trainers so that they could transfer their knowledge and experiences to the respective students for making students employable and hence these individuals could help in nation building & progress.

How do the students decide their career in India? Is it right Approach? If not, what is the right Approach?
The entry into engineering requires certain basic traits. First and foremost, candidate must be passionate about engineering and he/she should choose the respective choice of branch in engineering field so that he/she could give their 100% and make it interested throughout the course. Someone who is not interested in engineering/technology field of study however he/she choose this field of study due to peer pressure, family pressure or under any other circumstances, it will not be good for individual as well as nation. Hence, individual should have freedom to choose their choice of field of study so that it could give its 100% efforts with interest and passion. If someone is interested in commerce, he/she should study commerce, if someone is interested in acting, he/she should go for that and so on. If someone is interested in engineering, he/she study engineering. Individual must have enormous patience, ability to work for long hours and an creative spirit that are essential ingredients for becoming a successful engineer. This study is proposing here two processes as below: A. A basic ‗seven steps' approach to decide individual's field of study B. ‗Career Decision Process' for Engineering Graduates

A. A basic 'seven steps' approach is as below:
1. Do a research and explore the opportunities available 2. Self assessment to be done 3. Choose the area of passion (interest) --Goal Setting‖ 4. Start working ‗honestly' towards achieving your goal 5. Periodic monitoring and assessment whether you are on track 6. Be flexible 7. Achieve the goal and Cheers!!

B. 'Career Decision Process' for Engineering Graduates
In the Figure-1, career decision process for engineering graduates is explained. It is simple to understand.

Proposed Framework of Skills and Employability for Engineering Graduates
After reviewing many books and journals, it was felt a need of a framework for engineering graduates. Hence, the study proposed a framework as shown in Figure-  3. 69% of India Hiring Intent Survey respondents agree to the impact of automation on jobs in future. 4. 24% employers indicate that analytics is emerging as the future job area and 15% foresee Artificial intelligence as future job area 5. 8.11% employers suggest that very few job seekers possess the required skill while 9.01% employers agree that nearly all job seekers possess the required skill.