Automobile major Telco has developed an innovative scheme for upgrading the employability of technical diploma holders. At a recent seminar on `Training the Trainers, Educating the Educators', organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in Delhi, V K Verma, senior deputy general manager of Telco, stated in his presentation that industry needs to look at adding value to the education received by diploma holders in the country. One way of achieving this is by providing the diploma holders an opportunity to learn about business management.Telco is on the threshold of introducing one such programme. Verma felt that in the normal course, an engineering graduate with an MBA degree is not faced with uncertainty in the job market. Instead, it is the technical diploma holder who is facing an unequal challenge from the degree holders.
To improve the employability of diploma holders, Telco has designed a management capsule programme for them, with help from a management institute inBhopal.
Interestingly, the automobile major has also worked out the placement of candidates completing this programme. Telco has a wide network of dealers whose turnover is in the region of Rs 50-100 crore. These dealer companies are not in a position to recruit B Tech/MBA graduates because of the high salaries demanded by this segment. Telco plans to step in and bridge this gap. The training programme designed by Telco is a step in this direction.``The management capsule will provide the diploma holders training in marketing, costing, computers, information technology, behavioural skills, communications, among other disciplines,'' stated Verma.
It would be a one-year programme that includes four months training at the institute in Bhopal, four months at the Telco plants, two months hands-on marketing at one of the Telcoregional offices and two months on-the-job training.At the end of the training programme, the candidates will take a test conducted by the management institute. Those clearing this testwill be awarded a certificate and find employment with one of the Telco dealers.
The programme is slated to begin July this year.Verma also spoke for augmenting the academia-industry interaction. The teaching community in the technical institutes has only limited exposure to industry. ``Most of the interaction takes place in the form of consultancy assignments. But a majority of middle and junior teachers -- who have maximum interaction with students -- have no access to consultancy assignments.'' Teachers are not able to appraise the students of industry requirements, he added.
``Enterprise resource planning (ERP), ERP, CAD/CAM, statistical quality control and electronic simulation are examples of areas where assignments have been undertaken, but the knowledge has not been passed on to the student community in real terms,'' he said.``In order to overcome these limitations, we must broadbase the interaction of industry and the teaching community, thereby enabling the academic world to respond faster toindustry needs and develop in students an industry-perspective. We propose the setting up of a mechanism for `industrial training' or quasi- consultancy assignments for junior and middle level teachers,'' he said.
Under the scheme, the engineering colleges and the technical institutes will sponsor teachers/support staff for industrial training/project work in industry. The size of the institute and the work experience of the teacher may determine the size and nature of the industry for which the candidate is likely to get selected. For example, teachers from engineering colleges and polytechnics may go to large and medium industries, while those from industrial technical institutes may go to medium and small industries.``CII would prepare a list of willing companies (technology-wise). Industry will be involved in the selection process. The assessment of the project work too would be jointly done by industry and educational authorities. The participants will get an opportunity to try out the latest intechnology, and interact with industry managers,'' Verma stated.
``The scheme tries to bring in the junior and middle level teachers into the interaction framework. Hence, the preferred profile of participants for such projects could be technical teachers with a degree/diploma in engineering, less than 40 years of age and having less than 10 years of experience. In addition, they may preferably be from the same region as the concerned industry,'' Verma said. ``The scheme could be modified for other service sector industries as well,'' he concluded.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
