The Central and State governments have taken several steps and were in the process of taking many more steps to improve the quality of technical education to improve the standard on a par with international level, according to C. Chinnaraj, project coordinator, TEQIP (Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme), Directorate of Technical Education, Chennai.
Inaugurating ‘MEKBLAZE 14,’ a national-level technical symposium organised by the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Thanthai Periyar Government Institute of Technology (TPGIT) here on Wednesday, Mr. Chinnaraj said that the government has decided to improve the quality of technical education in the country in the context of the fact that none of the technical educational institutions in India figure among the top 200 institutions in the world. A sum of Rs.10 crore each was allotted to 197 colleges in India including 11 colleges in Tamil Nadu (8 engineering colleges and 3 polytechnic colleges) in the first phase of the World Bank-aided TEQIP which was implemented from 2004 to 2009. With this fund, a digital library has been established and the labs of the various departments modernized in TPGIT.
The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) too has been providing funds for improvement of the quality of technical education in the country. TPGIT is one of the colleges which have been selected for the construction of a building for the establishment of a Skill Development Centre at a cost of Rs.3.3 crore. Of this sum, the Central government would be contributing Rs.two crore and the Tamil Nadu government Rs.1.3 crore.
The AICTE has decided to select 200 faculty members for being deputed to the U.K. for administrative capacity building training programmes to be implemented in collaboration with U.K. universities, he said.
The Ministry of Human Resources Development has introduced many programmes based on ICT (information and communication technology) applications to enable students and faculty to update their knowledge. One such programme is MOOC (Massive Online Open Courses) prepared by IIT-Bombay and IIT-Madras. Under a scheme called ‘E-Enthira,’ each college has been encouraged to start a robotics lab with embedded systems to impart to the students a thorough knowledge of the subjects. TPGIT will soon have such a lab.
Mr. Chinnaraj said that while in the past, technical education curriculum was designed based on the needs and demands of people such as power generation, railways, etc., the content of curriculum has now changed to meet emerging challenges posed by advancements in technology, World Trade Organisation expectations, and globalisation of education. The future curriculum would be designed to equip students to solve problems faced by society, he said.
The TEQIP project coordinator released the symposium souvenir and CD. M. Arularasu, Principal, TPGIT. presided. S. Rajakumar, Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, TPGIT welcomed the gathering.
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