— Photo: Sampath Kumar G. P.

FIRST OF ITS KIND: (from left): M. N. Vidyashankar, Secretary, Information and Technology, Kiran Karnik, Nasscom President, Ramachandragowda, Science and Technology Minister, Karnataka Government, at the inauguration of the first IT-finishing school and releasing of the prospectus in Bangalore recently.

CHENNAI: The National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) has hit on the idea of `facilitating' the establishment of finishing schools for the information technology sector. A few such institutions have already taken shape and the association now wants to play the role of a facilitator, so that the IT and IT-enabled Services (ITeS) sectors get a more employable and skilled hand, instead of a fresher. Such a school, in the private sector, can also enable a student out of college, to be better qualified for recruitment into the lucrative job market in this service industry.

Tailor-made

Similarly, the biotechnology sector plans to go in for finishing schools, because it is finding it increasingly difficult to fit in the fresh graduates or post graduates into the high-end areas of research or trial. It has taken this long for the industry to realise the need for and benefits from sponsoring or facilitating such institutions. The academy-industry relations or partnership have yet to blossom in this country, the way they have in more developed economies. Of course, we have large industries sponsoring specialised post-graduate courses in universities and institutes, with limited seats, for direct absorption by the industry. The course is tailor-made for them.

Things have come to such a pass that the IT and ITeS companies have been recruiting a majority of the engineering graduates over the past three or four years because of their phenomenal growth. Be it a civil engineer or a chemical engineer, they prefer to go in for an IT/ ITeS job because the starting pay is much higher than a traditional engineering job. Consequently, most of the larger IT companies have their own training centres to provide the basic hands-on skill in their domain to these raw recruits. But the smaller and medium scale companies have not been able to afford such a luxury. And it is perhaps they who need such finishing schools to get more readily employable candidates.

Though universities, the Indian Institutes of Technology and premium institutes have tried to foster industry-institute partnership at different centres and levels, only a few have been really successful. Academic Deans suggest that there has to be an across-the-board partnership for different courses with related industries. "With a higher degree of specialisation in courses, to meet the job market demands, it is becoming increasingly difficult for institutes to find the qualified teachers for those subjects."

It will be much better to source resource persons and part-time faculty from the industry, on a regular basis. "More than retired officers, we would like to attract senior executives, who are still involved in the processes, to teach the students. There must also be a regular training or internship programme with a linkage between the course and industry," reasons a former Vice-Chancellor who tried his best to promote academia-industry relations in the 1990s.

Sponsorship

It is possible for a cluster of industries in any centre to come together and set up such finishing schools. If they do not want to get involved directly, they can always encourage existing institutes to establish a separate and exclusive school for the industry, with significant sponsorship because the industry will be the main beneficiary from such a school, in addition to the students who will go through the training.

Depending on the industry and the nature of its demands, it can provide the laboratory and other training facilities, along with the resource persons to hone the skills. This can certainly go a long way in enhancing the level of education and training, generate more employable candidates and equip the students to plunge into their jobs with confidence and skill.

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