Engineering colleges in India are finally gearing to change their syllabi in order to instil more practical learning in their students rather than just making them gulp down big chunks of theoretical topics one after another. The HRD ministry and All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) have recently accepted the recommendations made by a committee on revising the syllabi for engineering and technical institutes in the country.

Earlier, the AICTE had set up 11 subject committees to recommend curricula changes at engineering and technical institutes in India – excluding the IITs and NITs. The main aim behind the whole process was to address the growing concerns over the falling quality and employability of engineering graduates in the country. The panel wanted the curricula to focus more attention on topics of current importance such as machine learning, artificial intelligence and make internships mandatory.

As of today, India is home to about 3,000-odd registered institutes that produce 7 lakh engineers every year, out of which only 30-40% end up with jobs. According to experts, this low-employability level can be attributed as much to the lack of skills as the falling industry demand.

According to a statement given by an HRD official to Hindustan Times, “As per the curriculum, first year students will have less number of theory classes and will have to go through the induction training in the first semester. The curriculum has been designed to keep the final semester free to pursue project work so that the students can have hands-on experience."

The new curricula will also get rid of content that is not relevant in today's time.

The official further added that a model curriculum has been devised by the committee which has to be followed by all engineering and technical institutes. The AICTE will soon be issuing a regulation to this effect and the revised syllabus will be introduced from January next year.

According to the new curriculum, the colleges will get to include 30 per cent of the content depending on their requirement but 70 per cent will have to be from the model curriculum.

Considering the fields of engineering and technology undergo changes every day, there is a need for our education institutes to adjust to those changes accordingly. Some of the engineering institutes in India are still teaching ages-old syllabi by using now obsolete teaching tools.

AICTE is soon going to call a meeting of all the affiliated technical universities (ATU) to make them aware about the changes in the syllabus being made by them.
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