The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Initiatives to improve employability

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Monday, Apr 14, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Initiatives to improve employability

Priscilla Jebaraj

Placement cell being set up to cater for students of government colleges in rural areas

CHENNAI: With “employability” becoming a buzzword in higher education, the State Government is planning several initiatives to improve the prospects of government college graduates in the job market.

The Higher Education Department is establishing a placement cell in the Directorate of Collegiate Education to cater to the needs of students of government colleges in rural areas. Senior department officials said that while government colleges had their own placement cells, most companies tend to focus on urban areas. The Directorate’s placement would give rural colleges access to potential employers. An official has already been assigned to handle the placement cell. But with examinations under way, the cell’s activities will only begin in the next academic year.

Besides coordinating recruitment activities, the placement cell will encourage companies to make presentations for final-year students on the job market and the skills needed to succeed. The cell will also interact with the Directorate of Employment and Training to spot job opportunities.

The department is also tying up with the Directorate of Employment and Training, which runs the Industrial Training Institutes, to introduce job-oriented courses in all government colleges from the next academic year. Presidency College, Chennai, has been experimenting with such a programme, offering add-on diploma courses in technical skills, such as television repair, in association with polytechnics.

The new scheme will seek to extend such benefits to students from across the State, the aim being “to equip students with the skills to get a job as soon as they graduate,” an official said.

English language laboratories are being built in 60 government colleges, at a cost of Rs. 5.5 lakh each. If students are to have the soft skills and communication capabilities that will make them employable, their teachers must gain them first.

The Higher Education Department is planning a programme to impart soft skills to government college teachers next year. The programme is likely to cover all districts through a rotation process, with three days in each centre and 30-40 teachers in each batch, according to senior officials. The department is holding discussions with Microsoft to run the programme, though an official said other companies could also be considered as potential partners. Microsoft already runs Project Shiksha, which is in the process of delivering IT literacy and skills development to over 80,000 teachers of government schools across the country.

All fresh recruits to faculty ranks are expected to undergo an orientation programme, including training in communication and soft skills, launched earlier this year.

The second batch of trainees will come from the recruits for the 522 SC/ST vacancies, which were recently notified, and the 540 general vacancies which will be notified soon.

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