SRINAGAR: Secretary Higher Education, Talat Parvez today said that students should enhance and be imparted with required skill sets in order to enhance their global competitiveness.
The Secretary was speaking at a meeting here which he chaired to review the functioning of Higher Education scenario in Jammu and Kashmir. The meeting was attended by Deputy Secretary Higher Education, Sanjeev Rana and Principals and staff of government colleges of Kashmir region.
The meeting also discussed the concept of Leaning Outcomes Based Curriculum (LOCF) threadbare.
Speaking on the occasion, Talat Parvez said that LOCF will bring about major reforms needed to revamp the education sector of Jammu and Kashmir as the focus will be on skill-based education, inducing thinking capability and experiential learning.
He said that by LOCF students would be groomed in such a manner that they find a place for themselves in the ever-increasing competitive world.
While quoting the statistics he said that universities around India produce over one million young engineers and management graduates but only one third of them get employed due to the requisite skills required for the industries.
He urged upon the institution heads to work on outcome-driven learning system instead of an input-driven one. He maintained that a teacher should analyze what kind of aptitude students carry in order to impart right training to them.
The Secretary maintained that the situation can be tackled by roping in the training partners as many institutes in India have already started gearing up to this change.
He asked the principals to identify partners, who would be imparting right skills to students, to produce industry ready students.
He also emphasized the need to devise courses to increase market acceptability. He said that at present curriculum is purely theoretical and there is a need to revisit the curriculums and make it more practical, interesting and job oriented.
He said that there should be embedded programmes; add-on courses, certificate courses in addition to full time courses.
“A degree is not enough to guarantee the employability of graduates, some of the skills that employers look for in a candidate include communication, adaptability, listening, problem-solving, teamwork and creativity, so this should all be a part of student’s personality development, he added.
The Secretary maintained that modernization of infrastructure and laboratories has to be in tune with advancement of technology which provides students with a realistic picture of the job market beyond their college and university.
