Diploma holders passing out of polytechnic colleges are securing better placements compared to B. Tech graduates, says Chadalawada Nagarani, Director of Technical Education.
“Over 90% of the polytechnics find jobs after completing Diploma courses while the same thing cannot be said about their counterparts who pursue B. Tech after completing their Diploma,” says Ms. Nagarani.
Speaking to The Hindu, she says a large number of industries are in need of manpower at the supervisory level and they are short of Diploma-holders. The ‘Work Integrated Learning Programme’ (WILP) available in hybrid mode of learning is a boon for students who want to improve their qualification, she explains.
Currently, 25 courses are available for students at the 84 Government Polytechnic Colleges, 165 private colleges and one aided college in the State. Capacity-building programmes are being conducted for the faculty and principals to provide quality education to students and update their skills. “So far, 38 such programmes for over 2,000 faculty and 83 principals have been conducted,” she informs, adding that faculty are also sent in batches to industrial units and establishments such as Gangavaram port and Polavaram project site as part of their training to help them keep pace with automation and advanced technology.
Industry-oriented courses
The Director says the government’s decision to start industry-oriented courses in polytechnic colleges was preceded by her visit to industries like Kia, Apache, Efftronics, Bharat Limited and SriCity and several rounds of discussion with the industry representatives.
“Based on the industry requirements, we intend to start a three-year course besides offering certificate courses of six to 18 months in office automation, fire safety, industrial safety, beautification, food processing, AC machine and footwear technology,” she says.
To further improve placements, the Training and Placement Cells established in colleges have been asked to identify industries ready to provide hands-on training to students followed by placement opportunities.
Ms. Nagarani says that for a strong industry connect, Polytechnic colleges are collaborating with the Industry for training, campus placements, visits to industrial units, expert lectures, consultancy services and CSR initiatives.
Referring to MoUs, she cites the partnership with EduSkills to establish six corporate training academies — Cisco Networking Academy, AWS, Red-Hat, Palo Alto, Blueprism and Mocro Chip, in government colleges in a phased manner and faculty were given training. “We have also signed an MoU with IIT-Bombay and Cisco Systems to offer training programmes on IT essentials and Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA),” she informs.
Currently, two industrial training programmes are being offered to students — a three-and-a-half-year Diploma course and a three-year course, with a mandatory one year and six-month industrial training respectively.
“As many as 11,604 students from Government Polytechnics and 24,669 students from private polytechnics opted for these training programmes and as a result, 566 students secured industrial training placements with a monthly stipend of ₹6,000 to ₹10,000 during the training period,” she says.
She said to develop infrastructure, funds to the tune of ₹365.46 crore were sanctioned to take up civil works, some of which have been completed. She said seven of the 16 SC hostels sanctioned had been completed and 26 of the 27 women’s hostels sanctioned were completed. “We have appealed to the government to develop infrastructure facilities in Polytechnic under Nadu-Nedu scheme,” she said.
