It was a meaningful interaction. At a recent CII seminar, academicians and industry leaders not only discussed gaps in education-business links with interest, but also touched upon solutions -- some of them quite user-friendly.Israel Asher, president, Degem Systems, Israel, began by focussing on the basic facilities in schools such as laboratories. ``Upgrade the facilities,'' Asher said.
By upgrading, Asher was not just talking of machines and equipment. He meant know-how too. And joint development of projects, where educational institutions and industry work together, is the happiest way to combine industry funds and institutional expertise.
For instance, `Edutainment' from Degem is a technical system which integrates computer programmes for education and industry. Meant for children in the age group of 3 to 16 years as well as their parents, Degem has set up multimedia education centres combining education with entertainment. Multikid, Multigarden, Multilingua, Multiadventure, Multiarts, Multimusicand Multifamily are among the multipurpose education system devised by Degem.
That's an Israeli model for step by step shared activity. For example, Multitech is the first step towards becoming an engineer. Spread all over Europe, Asia and South America, `Edutainment' is somewhat of a complete solution to the industry-education mismatch, stated Asher.
So, mix education with the industrial needs and add an element of fun to it. V R Mehta, vice-chancellor, Delhi University, however, seemed to suggest that academic course was all important. Academicians and industry have to formulate the course together, said Mehta. After all, both need each other- be it for funds or technical know-how. Look at the West, he said, where intensive collaboration between institutions and industry has made a Silicon Valley a reality.
Mehta suggested that CII could set up a cell to work out guidelines for vocationalisation and professionalisation of education. Another important point made by Mehta was that industry was theultimate user of the university products. All the more reason that industry must come forward to help the educational institutions, Mehta said.
From course to jobs, S K Bijlani, president, Magnus Engineers, talked about the scope for employment in industry. Joint student evaluation by institutions and industry is a positive way of going about things, said Bijlani. That is, a joint certificate from industry and educational institution may improve the job prospects of a candidate.
Also, industry must visit institutions, and institutions must visit industry. Bijlani made such an interaction possible with ITIs through MoUs and regular visits. So, if a solution could be found for ITIs in terms of interaction with industry, why not for other educational institutions, asked Bijlani.
B M Hegde, pro-vice-chancellor, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, identified motivation as the most significant factor in industry-education interaction. ``Excellence is competing with one's own self,'' Hegde said while talkingabout a holistic view towards education. ``Compete with yourself and industry can chip in,'' Hegde suggested to educational institutions. And finally, primary education is the basic foundation that one must invest in, Hegde stated.
Whether it's primary education or higher technical education, Ranjit Puri, chairman, Indian Sugar & General Engineering Corporation, stressed on sponsorship and aggressive marketing of educational institutions as a solution to bridge the gap between industry and institutions. There's no shortage of companies offering support to institutions, but universities need to be more open about it, Puri said.
Citing an example of his company successfully running training centres in collaboration with various educational institutions, Puri asked institutions to bring in engineers and other professionals to train students on the campus. Likewise, he advised industry to spare experts for this purpose.
There were other recommendations too. V S Raju, director, IIT Delhi, had a complete IITexperience to narrate.
Technical development mission in seven generic areas since 1995 was one of the achievements, said Raju. It was a Planning Commission initiative, which was implemented in the five IITs and Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.Joint development of facilities is another success area in IITs. The Department of Ocean Development set up the National Institute of Ocean Technology at IIT Madras recently, which is an example of joint development of facilities.
Industrial R&D on an academic campus is another milestone that IITs have achieved. IBM Solutions Research Centre at IIT Delhi is a fine example of research and development on a campus.
Raju had some action points in mind too. For one, he said, academic institutions must set up mechanisms that can operate on commercial ethos of flexibility and procedural simplicity.
In all, the recommendations were very many, but real life solutions only few. But a shared vocabulary between industry and educational institutions remained the commonminimum programme of the session.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
