I wish I have enough answers before even I start writing the first sentence of this article. The answers which will give us a fair understanding for the question, ‘Why Engineering is not Making Engineers?’
Intelligent are those who know to ask the right question at the right time. I think the timing cannot be more right than now, as the world is staring at another Great Depression. Questions trigger answers based on data. If I am to ask the following questions:
- How many from the students who take admission to various engineering graduation programs know what is engineering? And are they aware of their field of study?
- Of them, how many discontinue their engineering education because of lack clarify on their career and future, or both?
- How many think studying engineering text books alone can’t make them engineer?
- How many engineering graduates leave the campus every year per engineering stream?
- Of them, how many lands in any job?
- How many of them get a job as an engineer?
- Of them, how many get jobs in their respective field of study?
- How many of them have to leave our country for not having enough jobs?
- Does any college/university care to guide the engineering students about various job opportunities available and how to reach there?
- How colleges, universities, technical education authorities ensure students and their parents receive return on investment (ROI) on the college fees paid and productive time spent?
Some fundamental questions. Apologies if I missed few more.
If anyone tries to understand, how an engineering student spending time inside the campus for 4 vast years, he/she will rather be shocked to realize how busy these kids were in writing exams upon exams, assignments upon assignments, impositions upon impositions, satisfying the ego of their professors, HODs, principal and deans.
Engineering is taught as an academic stream in 90% plus institutions. That is, subject taught from text books and dictated notes. Most of the students’ efforts are invested in copying assignments, repeating impositions and sleepless exam preparation the night just before. Teachers (lectures and professors) are busy in becoming much more complied to text books and their theoretical research studies. Lucky students get opportunity to be part of this research, only to imitate their predecessors and become even more ‘academic’ by pursuing masters, PhD, PDF, and on and on. This is when, real engineering is the implementation and manifestation of knowledge in solving real world problems and upgrading our living.
It is true that, engineering education must be handled through academic perspective also. But, not alone. Engineering education is considered as professional education. Engineering must be studied, taught and learned as an ‘art of building’. The art of proposing solutions to the problems, the art of creating something new, the art of innovation, the art of making life better.
Education is the process of facilitating learning, or the acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, beliefs, and habits. When it comes to engineering education, ‘skill’ has even more importance. Students can learn skills from a skilled teacher, common sense. Textbook product teachers never have the taste of real engineering. Maximum exposure they have are of research labs and international conferences. Is that enough? Why AICTE cannot make certain years of engineering work experience as a must for teachers’ eligibility?
Well, I wish I have enough answers before I end this article. I wish, our colleges, universities, competent bodies such AICTE, Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) have enough answers before they gamble on our students future and career.
Published in TheMujeebPatla.Wordpress.com (April 24, 2020)
Mujeeb Patla 