Ansari harps on relevance of engineering education in Indian eco

Kolkata, Jan 17 (UNI) Vice-President Md Hamid Ansari today said curriculum and teaching method should take into account the relevance of engineering education for Indian Industry and economy.

Addressing the closing Ceremony of the Sesqui celebration of the Bengal Engineering and Science University (BESU) here, Md Ansari said, '' It has also been a long journey from the Bishop's College in British! Bengal Engineering College in independent India and then on to a deemed University. What began as a college to meet the requirements of trained engineers for the PWD Department has blossomed into a premier academic institution. '' '' Engineering and technical education in the country have occupied a critical role in our knowledge economy. It produces over 400,000 engineers every year. The skill deficit that we face in our country needs to be remedied at the earliest, '' the Vice-President asserted.

The general quality of engineering and technical college faculty in the country left much to be desired and premier engineering colleges had failed to attract and retain the best of their faculty, he said adding, '' We need to revisit the conditions guiding the appointment of faculty members and have systemic flexibility to enable engineering to attract and retain talented faculty.'' ''Industry-academic interaction is currently limited to some of the elite institutions and is not a gem at engineering and technical institutions. This should be remedied,'' he iterated.

Md Ansari said engineering and technical institutions should serve as tool of research and development, adding, '' Unfortunately over the years engineering colleges have not fostered R&D activities. Engineering research should be undertaken in specific government institutions.'' The Vice-President stated that inter-linkages between various levels of engineering and technical education had weakened over the years, and stressed the need for strengthening such linkages.

UNI XC SJC LS RAI2335