Engineering Education – A glimpse

Engineering, as a subject and practice as well, is very much a social activity with political, ethical and economic dimensions. It is a fact that there is worldwide transformation in engineering education driven by industry needs. Employment in Engineering warrants for a variety of skills, including visualization and communication skills. According to Lumsdaine and Lumsdaine, “Feedback from industry states that, Industry is increasingly looking for employees who can think holistically, who can innovate, who can work in teams, who can synthesize and who can integrate environmental and societal values and ethics in their work.” Engineering Institutions in good number have been on the increase year after year all over the world including India. The question is “Do the Engineering institutions produce Engineers with Employability skills, otherwise known as Non-technical skills?” According to Burse, the answer is “Studies worldwide have revealed that employers believe, entry level engineering employees are incompetent in the broader non-technical skills”. Narsee, confirms this view saying, “Employers also felt that educational institutions need to place more emphasis on teaching the so called softer skills”.2 His paper throws more light on the feedback of the other two stakeholders, namely, the Industry and the Governments.In the light of employability skills, irrespective of field or subject, there is always a skills gap between the skills expected by the Industry and what is actually available with the graduates. This is a phenomenon applicable to all areas at all times. The main attribute contributing to the above phenomenon is the ever dynamic and fast changing organizational climate and workforce requirement. The issue of skills gap seems to get complicated in the present day environment due to innumerable factors such as globalization, technological developments, faster obsolescence rate in Computer Science and Technology, multi-cultural working environments, International competition, demands of the present generation and the like. Engineering and Technology based industries are not exception to this situation. Though initiatives and measures are in the continuous updating process at the national and international levels, they are not able to zero the skills gap. The more attempts are tried to bridge the gap, the more the requirements go on increasing. Hence, the problem of skills gap warrants for a continuous surveillance and vigilance is required in this area to bridge the gap and meet the industry needs. A mismatch between the industry needs and the competence of entry level engineers do exist. National Governments and International Engineering bodies have been evolving standards and analytical reports periodically in order to help the engineering institutions bridge the gap. The Government of India is aware of the crux of the problem and is on the move to introduce legislation in the context of bridging the skills gap. Regarding the steps for improving the situation and enhancing the standard and quality of Engineering education, in accordance with the industry needs and expectations, a lot of changes are on the way to revamp the way the Education System is governed in India. Changes have reached the doorsteps through the formation of working groups. In this context, a lot of situation audits are essential. This investigation may contribute its mite to the thoughts and initiatives inclined towards solutions to bridge the gap with a healthy national economy in mind. The widespread discussion is on the concept of bridging the gap through making provisions for the development of the basic/generic skills and re-engineering of education. All these belong to a top down approach. The problem needs a bottom up -- ex ante approach also. The development should be addressed when the students are young and the philosophical foundations of education should be made stronger with appropriate thoughts towards achieving a wholeness of development in the mind and the body of the student. All these

depend on the philosophical foundation of education in its right perspective. Indian tradition of education is, no doubt, has a rich heritage with laudable philosophical base the pinnacle of which lies in Gandhian thoughts, Luiz et al., state that, “Engineering and technology are critical inputs for economic development and competitiveness.” EngineeringEducation directly or indirectly contributes to the Gross Domestic Product of every nation ultimately leading to human welfare. The present day society is acclaimed to be an information society, knowledge society or network society. Apart from how it may be called, its most visible element is the rapid development of the Information Communication Technologies, and the fast increasing amount of information. The society is passing through a transformation. According to Tynjala et al., 9 “New kinds of expertise are needed, and many organizations have turned into knowledge intensive innovation centers in which collaborative work, networking, and transformative and creative learning have become key concepts in organizational development. This change affects also engineering education.”Engineering Education has been rightly defined by the Knowledge Commission of India in its recent report as, “Engineering education consists of three well-defined aspects -- knowledge, know-how, and character. The knowledge component enables one to understand what one learns in relation to what one already knows and provides the continuity in education while know-how is the ability to translate knowledge into action. The knowledge component has an invariant core that consists of fundamentals based on universal laws and an outer layer of constantly improving and rapidly expanding empirical knowledge of particular systems, constantly changing applications of increasing sophistication and complexity and constantly improving tools. Education thus described is a combined responsibility of academia, industries, professional associations and society.”10 A nation’s educational program should, among other things, aim at solving the problems facing the nation and improving the economy through wealth creation. It is well known that engineers contribute to such a wealth creation and shape the future of the nation. Many nations, whether developed or underdeveloped are looking inward, studying the trends of change, suggesting and making modifications to their engineering education content in order to produce engineering graduates capable of carrying their nations through the change and challenges of time. Szpytko states that, “The expansion in technology and materials development has been so rapid that for the first time in our history we have made obsolete many of the rules and much of the infrastructure that serves society’s needs today. The effect of globalization has driven through tremendous changes within the industry world-wide.” He further adds that, with technology advances, workplace changes can lead to exciting and rewarding careers that may require to be flexible and committed to continuing professional development. The key to survival is establishing a framework for life-long learning world-wide. In the face of business globalization the engineers must sharpen their capability to communicate both in the written and oral modes and must work in teams to tackle issues and resolve problems. According to Grabowski and Szpytko12, “Engineering education for the 21st century must prepare students, the future technologists to face real world problems, to satisfy industry needs. Graduate students must be prepared for a rapidly changing environment, driven by the accelerated rate of technical innovation, essential skills for the future, the ability to engage in life-long learning, to communicate and cooperate across disciplines and geographical boundaries.” This phase of the engineering education and industrial needs, seen through the eyes of an engineering student should be on his/her search for a future employee.

Engineering Education in India

A recent publication entitled 'Profile of Engineering Education in India' by Gautam Biswas et al., provides a comprehensive picture of Engineering Education in India. The initial years immediately after Indian independence began to witness a planned development in Engineering Education. The establishment of Indian Institute of Technology by theGovernment at the centre marked one of the greatest hallmarks of visionary development in the Independent India. On the recommendations of the Engineering Personnel Committee appointed by the Planning Commission (1955), the Government of India made provisions for the establishment of eight Regional Engineering Colleges (REC) while seven more were added by bringing the total number to fifteen besides strengthening the PG courses and doctoral programs in Engineering. The Thacker Committee (1959-1961), the Nayudamma Committee (1978-79) and The Rama Rao Committee with their recommendations helped the Government add on appropriate values and measures to the refinement of Engineering Education. It was the Rama Rao Committee that supported 'GATE' system of admission and revision of Engineering Curriculum on a practical training orientation. The formation of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) as a regulating body for the conduct of courses in Engineering and Technology, has been working for enhancing the quality of Engineering Education as the accrediting body also. The number of Engineering Colleges and Deemed Universities in the private sector in India proliferated at a faster rate felicitated by provisions in the National Policy on Education. According to the report of the Knowledge Commission, Engineering institutions in India currently [2009] account for intake of more than 5, 00,000 students in Bachelor’s program, around 30,000 in Master’s program and less than 1000 in PhD program. The number of institutions has also grown by an order of magnitude in the last two decades, mostly in the private sector. This rapid expansion has raised serious concerns about the quality of engineering education in these institutions.Engineering Education is administered by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) through the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). AICTE provides the guidelines for starting new programs in Technical Education and is also charged with accrediting the programs through the National Board of Accreditation (NBA).It is not the degree alone, but the generic or non technical skills too that are counted for employability. Frantz et al., confirm that the quality of technology education programs is greatly determined by the successful students having acquired the skills, knowledge and values needed by society, more specifically the workforce. Engineering Education should be able to help a nation achieve higher economic growth rate through effective employment of engineering graduates. Industry gives priority to employability skills rather than academic merit alone. The final result is that students may not get placed on the one hand and on the other, industry is not getting proper candidates. Also those who join the industry may not possess the expected competency.

1.2 Employability Skills Gap

It is an acknowledged fact that knowledge, skills, and resourcefulness of people are vital to sustain social and economic development in a knowledge society. Employability is defined as the acquisition of those skills, which not only help in landing in a job but also allow a person to sustain. Currently while there is no dearth of opportunities in the employment scenario, there is a serious lack of employable talent. While there is abundant talent in

India, the proportion of industry-ready candidates is alarmingly low, posing a huge challenge for the industry in meeting its requirement, questioning the future of engineering graduates coming out of the college and university portals. Attributes to this problem are many. Economic growth in India has, in the last few years, picked up considerable momentum with services and recently, the manufacturing sector showing a great deal of buoyancy. While the jury is out on whether the country can sustain a GDP growth of 9% per annum, it is generally agreed that much greater attention would have to be paid to the area of skill development. In a highly competitive world, being academically sound might just not be sufficient for graduates. According to experts, accomplishing a number of pre-requisites starting with communication, aptitude and presentation skills go a long way in making the graduates employable and industry-ready. The competence requirements of engineers are changing and increasing rapidly. Therefore, this challenges engineering education in general. A process of structural transformation is also under way in a post modern society. Fast growth of information society, in this regard, is affecting more the working life competence needs. Continuous competence development forms the basis for good employment and positive career prospects. While highlighting the status of employability of Indian graduate engineers, Mr. Amit Bansal, CEO, PurpleLeap, from Hyderabad says, "The times right now are very challenging. The global economic crisis is expected to lead to a dramatic increase in the number of people joining the ranks of the unemployed. The task becomes more daunting for entry level professionals especially if they are found lacking in the basic skills necessary for employability. The Industry/Companies today want candidates who not only possess the critical skills but are ready to start work from day one, because mostly nobody wants to spend time and money on training the new entrants. All of this means that students will need to do all that they can work on their skills and be industry ready. Just going to college and finishing their studies is evidently not enough”. The implied meaning is that the graduate engineers in order to satisfy the industry needs, should possess soft skills and competencies. Engineering Institutions of higher learning play an important role in developing and enhancing human capital for the IT industry. The skills gap is a reality leaving a majority of the entry level engineering graduates to the fate of unemployment or underemployment. One of the ways available to bridge the skills gap is for institutions of higher learning to reach out to industries to better understand their workforce requirements. This will enable institutions of higher learning to design new curriculum and redesign existing ones to be market-driven, placing emphasis on creativity, innovation and other enabling skills. Such collaboration between Engineering institutions and industries with initiatives from the government can ensure a supply of engineering workforce matching the market requirements. As the world moves towards a more globalised economy, the importance of innovation in addition to economic and infrastructural development as a driver of sustainable economic growth cannot be underestimated. Innovation which requires the involvement of engineers at various stages, increases competitiveness, which in turn leads to employment generation and wealth creation. The engineering graduates at the entry level of recruitment need to be equipped with non-technical skills besides their technical qualifications, in order to meet the challenging needs of the industry. The Academy should shoulder the task of bridging the gap of the entry level engineers enhancing the potential of their employability. The future of any nation today, not only depends on the abundance of resources which it possesses but also on the specialized skills, competence and abilities possessed by its populace which can be harnessed to utilize its natural resources. Engineering is the key to the technological, economic and societal development of any nation because it cannot be divorced from any aspect of present day human activities.

Education has many spin-offs. It is antidote to poverty, hunger, malnutrition, AIDS, corruption, apathy and other malaise. Education leads to deepening of democracy, more effective policy implementation, better family planning, women’s empowerment, elimination of social ills like child labour, female foeticide, prostitution, dalit exploitation and the like. Education is capable of liberating us. It is our panacea, cure all, elixir. Education, in the present day context, is perhaps the single most important means for individuals to improve personal endowments, build capability levels, overcome constraints and in the process, enlarge their available set of opportunities and choices for a sustained improvement in wellbeing. It is not only a mean to enhance human capital, productivity and, hence, the compensation to labour, but it is equally important for enabling the

process of acquisition, assimilation and communication of information and knowledge, all of which augment a person's quality of life. Education at the beginning of 21st century is in crisis and contestation. We are currently facing one of the worst educational crises in the world. According to UNESCO report, India is the largest single reservoir of world illiterates (UNESCO, 2006). There are many road blocks which are hindering the path of quality education viz. low gross enrollment ratio, low retention, wastage and stagnation, issues related to expansion as well as quality. The problem of the global era is not that of scarcity but of plenty. The competition level is all time high. This contest is not merely confined to securing high grades or getting employment but the competitiveness has sprung up in educational institutions as well. The need of the hour is not only restrained to provide quality teachers but also good infrastructure, better placements, better institute-community linkages and the like. The educational institutions today have also woken up to this reality of the market. In India, the phenomenon has now struck most institutions in general and Technical Institutions in particular. India produces a large number of engineers every year. So why do industry leaders complain about the absence of quality engineers for their industries? The future success of Indian industry depends on the growth of quality engineering education in India, especially since Indian industry is competing globally in software, and in areas such as automobiles, chemicals and engineering equipments. In India, the brightest students opt for engineering after the XII standard. This has resulted in a spurt of engineering colleges, mainly in the private sector. Yet, there is significant unemployment among engineers due to their poor quality. Prof. Rangan Banerjee (2008) said India has the potential to become a global technology giant and lead the world in manufacturing. Whether we are able to realize this potential will largely depend upon the size and the quality of engineering manpower. Partnerships between industry, academia and government are critical to this context. This will certainly not happen in a business-as-usual scenario. We need strategic interventions from all the stakeholders.

Engineering is the application of Scientific, Economic, Social and Practical Knowledge in order to invent, design, build, maintain, research and improve structures, machines, devoices, systems, materials and processes. Early engineering began with man`s first step towards civilization. The first engineers were the pre-historic men who put fire to use, discover home to make tools and weapons and devised forms of shelter. Most of the visible remains of ancient civilization are examples of engineering skills. The drainage systems and bath rooms of Indus Valley Civilization, The Great Wall of China, the Pyramids of Egypt, Pataliputra ( Patna ) the capital city of Maurya, Nalanda University, Thakshasila University, Dwaraka Town ( Birth place of Sri Krishna ) and Ramasethu the bridge connecting Rameswaram and Srilanka on Indian Ocean were some of the ancient engineering, specially in Civil Engineering. After Industrial Revolution (1750) in Europe engineering education and inventions accelerated. World`s first Institute of Engineering is the Berg – Schole ( today known as University of Miskole ) was founded by the Court Chancellor of Vienna, Hungary in 1735 and the second one is Ecole des Ponts Paris Tech established in 1747 in Paris. Massachuate institute of Technology, USA is the No.1 Engineering institute in the world. Invention of Steam Engine by James watt, Dynamo by Michael Faradey, Electric Bulb by Thomas Alwa Edison, Rado by Markoni, Telephone by Grahum Bell, Aeroplane by Right Brothers and Automobile ( car) by Henry Ford are some of the oldest engineering inventions. But today we reached highly Advanced Engineering and Technology by which so many new inventions took place. Light weight unmanned Aircrafts, Robots, Space

Research, satellites, Genome, Biotechnology, Remote Control System, Sensor Technology, Bullet Trains, Bio-informatics, 3G and 4G Mobile Revolution, Metereology ( Cyclone and Tsunami Forecasting ), and Super Computers are some of Advanced Engineering and Technology inventions. In this era of globalization researchers, academicians and economists have predicted a very challenging future ahead and engineers of the future need to develop a whole gamut of skills and abilities to emerge successful. They will need to adapt to changing technologies, learn to work in multi cultural teams and find solution for issues and problems that occur quite suddenly. Science and technology is moving at a fast pace and there is a major revamp every ten years in all major fields. As far as industries are concerned product cycle takes much less time than before, thanks to the fast and new emerging technologies that become obsolete at a still faster rate. Studies in field of nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology will be at the fore front of engineering education in the future. Ageing population, scarcity of natural resources, energy crisis will be few of the problems that the engineers have to be prepared to face. There is a shift in the way universities are functioning specially in Asia and South Asia where the focus is on research and development. Changes are taking place in a massive way and engineering education is developing at a very fast unimaginable pace. Globalization in this ‘knowledge era’ is a matter one has to comprehend with because it is not a matter of choice. To adapt to this fast paced change in the globalized era, it is essential that each one must have skills that will help them to adapt, face challenges, have the openness and willingness to learn, be creative and explorative. Such skills are indeed essential to make them global citizens.

Changing Paradigm of Workforce Abilities

Cutting edge competition at the global level has raised the bar on the level of products or services. The rate of innovation is such that adaptability is the key word in all spheres of the organization. One can easily observe that knowledge workers and experts are available everywhere, but what sets them apart is the skill or competencies that they can put to best use. Talking about competencies, team work is the most essential one. Most often complex situation requires deep thought and a team’s decision definitely proves better than individuals. Interpersonal competencies, the ability to influence, build strong relationship is very crucial in today’s workplace situation. If this is the situation at the work place front, universities too need to be aware of the importance of imparting such training programmes and thus empower the work force that can easily adapt and contribute to the growth of an organization. Graduate attribute is the term in the recent year where universities strive to develop ‘lifelong learning ability’ in students and thus enable him/her to be successful. The term ‘generic graduate attribute’ looks at an all encompassing skill set which would help graduates to attain success. Students who graduate from Engineering courses must be able to demonstrate certain crucial skill, for example, they must be able to communicate effectively, solve problems, work in teams, be creative and think critically. They should be flexible and adaptable to changing needs.Employability is basically having the required skill set, adequate knowledge, desirable personal attributes that helps one to choose the profession in which they can sustain. According to Yorke, (2006) “a set of achievements – skills, understandings and personal attributes – that makes graduates more likely to gain employment and be successful in their chosen occupations which benefits themselves, the workforce, the community and the economy”. The knowledge and skill required for

workplace is further detailed clearly in the SCANS Report on America 2000 entitled, “What work requires of schools.” The higher education system is therefore completely relevant to the economy and government world over. Few decades before the relevance of skill and ability were known as human capital development.

Present Scenario in Engineering Education

Change is inherent in every walk of life and adapting to it is a real challenge. The field of Engineering and Technology proves to be the backbone of such changes and provides the required support for sustenance. The last half century one has seen a sea of changes with the Internet celebrating its 50th year. Technological advancement has blurred barriers and the ‘global village’ has to combat many challenges. Engineering education of various countries need to look in the same direction to develop a common platform which will serve the needs of a very demanding future. Engineers of the future need to develop professional competencies which do not stop with mere ‘technical knowhow’, but would also mean an individual’s ability to cope with situation that are beyond the walls of what is taught in classrooms. Engineers no longer work within the framework of their specialization in their own country. There is always a need to sustain in places crossing geographical borders and adjust in places with varied cultural differences. The information super highway has strengthened the knowledge era and is taking engineering education to levels higher than it was ever dreamt of. Economic slowdown has had its share of impact but things have bounced back enabling the future to look much brighter. Engineering education needs to definitely look at widening the horizon of students by creating in them an interest to explore, innovate and have a deep thirst to contribute to the development of society. Engineers need to necessarily develop intuition that helps them take critical decisions and become successful strategic planners. Educational institutions must incorporate the required skill sets by bringing in apt curricular reforms at the right time. Interdisciplinary studies aimed at making the world a better place by combating environmental issues and planning for a sustainable world would definitely be a challenge as far engineering education is concerned. Geographical, political, social and cultural borders should fade when looking at the larger picture. Most government looks to educational institutions to provide human resource with right skill and knowledge. It is the responsibility of higher educational system to enable a smooth transition to knowledge economy and advanced level of information technology. Each country must ensure that they are ready to empower their workforce who will fit the requirement of the industry and thus ensure that their country has an edge over the others. Therefore, ensuring that the young workforce has the necessary skill and competency to succeed in their jobs has now become the major responsibility of the educational institutions. Statistics according to UNESCO’s data reveals very striking information. Though enrolment data shows a double in the past two decades with an increase of 151 million in tertiary education, the ILO’s global employment trends report also shows a disturbing trend of how the financial crisis of 2008 has affected employment levels and only close to74.8 million youth has been employed in 2011 because of economic crisis. But the fact to be noted is that in order to increase their chance of getting employed the young productive workforce has to equip themselves with the necessary ‘new’ skill sets to meet the demand of work place. The ‘new’ engineering skills could also be called global professional skills. Two important systems, the Washington Accord and Bologna process have outlined the required engineering profile and listed criteria for accreditation and quality assurance of engineering education. The Washington Accordencompasses countries like the USA, UK, Australia and South Africa, as well as Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Germany. The accreditation process enables the recognition of engineering degree in the above said countries thus enabling students to enter into engineering practice across the above said countries. The Bologna process covers the European countries and aims to create a European

Higher Education Area. Both systems aim to promote accreditation systems and thus foster the internationalization of higher education process. To succeed in today’s global market, engineers today need, not only theoretical hard skills, like fundamentals of science, mathematics and engineering but also soft skills like communication skills, managerial skills, negotiation and interpersonal skills; being able to work on multidisciplinary teams find solutions for global issues and be empathetic. An initiative of the National Academy of Engineering, the report entitled, The Engineer of 2020: Visions of Engineering in the New Century ( 2005) deals at length as to how the engineering education need to be reengineered so as to prepare the next generation of students for effective engagement in the engineering profession by 2020. It begins by identifying the desired outcome, and then designing what the outcome is supposed to look like and the processes required to implement it. Quality is the key factor and the desired outcomes should include an enhanced educational experience for engineering students. Two recent efforts at comprehensive innovation in engineering education are those launched by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering Education Coalitions and the revision of the Engineering Accreditation Criteria by ABET, Inc. (ABET, 2004b). With regard to ABET, it is noted that in addition to addressing the traditional educational topics, the revised criteria place particular emphasis on the stakeholder goals and objectives as reflected in the institutional mission and great emphasis on the outcome of the programs. A few examples of the Program Outcomes as deemed necessary byABET are listed below:e. an ability to function effectively in teamsg. an ability to communicate effectivelyj. a respect for diversity and knowledge of contemporary professional, societal and global issues

Engineering Education in India

Education system in India is seeing a total overhaul; especially the higher education. There is an unimaginable explosion of volume of students, expansion in the number of institutions and an increase in public funding. The 11th Five Year Plan looked at inclusive education, trying to correct social imbalances. The 12th Five Year Plan aims at improving excellence and creating opportunity for equal access to quality education. To overcome the challenges the University Grant Commission (UGC) has ensured greater regional and social equity and this can be seen by the expansion by setting up 16 new Central Universities, and 374 Model Colleges. The focus was also to increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER).

Figure 1.1:Growth of Higher Education in India

Engineering institutions in India currently account for intake of more than 1650000 students in Bachelor’s program, around 87,000 in Master’s program and less than 3000 in PhD program. The number of institutions has also grown by an order of magnitude in the last two decades, over the next decade, India will have two significant opportunities in the form of manufacturing and engineering services outsourcing in addition to growing opportunities in business process outsourcing and information technology outsourcing. In order to meet the growing demand, the capacity of engineering education needs to be tripled while simultaneously enhancing quality. Currently, most graduates do not possess the skills needed to compete in the global economy, and industries have been facing a consistent skills deficit, mostly in the private sector. Engineering Education is administered by the MHRD through the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). AICTE provides the guidelines for starting new programmes in technical education and is also charged with accrediting the programmes through the National Board of Accreditation (NBA). Constant dialogue among Educational Institutes, Industries and Government through seminars and workshops is necessary to keep each other informed about the latest trends and issues. Many consortia like National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM), Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) etc have created a major workforce development platform and launched several initiatives, in partnership with the Government and academia that aim to bring positive changes to the Indian education system. Finishing schools run jointly by educational institutions and industry can train graduates especially in soft skills to make them more suitable for employment.On the one hand government and institutions of higher learning are taking many initiatives, but from the industry perspective, certain reports are very alarming. Though there is a huge demand for fresh engineers on the industry side, on the other side quite some students are unemployable. The McKinsey Report and Nasscom Report (2005), talks of the state where most engineering graduates lack the basic skill required for being employable. According to the management and consulting

firm, McKinsey, Indian factories will need 73 million workers by 2015, 50% more than today. The IT sector is on a hiring spree, targeting a higher intake, based on the rising needs. The National Association of Software and Services Companies, Nasscom-McKinsey Report predicts India will confront a huge shortage of skilled workers in the next decade. The importance of soft skills as distinct from hard skills or domain knowledge is increasingly being recognized in several sectors of today’s highly competitive market place. Research in many fields such as sales and marketing, software development, engineering and law, has shown that to be successful in the workplace, knowledge alone is not enough. Soft skills are needed to deal with the external world and to work in a collaborative manner with one’s colleagues. Studies by Stanford Research Institute and the Carnegie Mellon Foundation among Fortune 500 CEOs found that 75% of long term job success depended on people skills and only 25% on technical skills. The need of the hour is to ascertain the need of the industry, revamp the curriculum, and ensure there is an equal balance of knowledge and skill in preparing the engineering students. The curriculum and methodology should be such that it should instil confidence in the students to face and solve real world problems.

Engineering Education in India In India Engineering Education has witnessed vast growth in terms of expansion. The number of Engineering Colleges in the country increased manifolds since last two decades. Such expansin and massification has thrown up a wide variety of challenges and addressing these by maintaining quality and adoption of world class norms would constitute the key to ensure advances in the Human Development Index of the country and transform the country into a knowledge society. There is a realization that, All India Council for Technical Education is finding it difficult to match the demand of private players in the field of Technical Education. It is a fact that, lot of private institutions have come up in the Technical education sector and there is growing trend of commercialization of Technical Education and the laid down norms and standards of Technical Education are not fully implemented. The Technical Education sector needs to be reoriented in the light of these difficulties and globalization and competition in economy and the Technical Education needs to be redefined. In India, medicine and engineering are still the most sought after careers specifically by the middle class since long. Engineering education in India contributes a major share to the overall education system and plays a vital role in the social and economic development of our nation. Engineering education is not only teaching in basic science, but also relies on training some personal and teaching skills, modifying the student`s way of thinking in a more logical way to achieve creativity at the end. Engineering education has seen unprecedented growth since 1980s in Southern and Western India and 1990s in Northern India specifically in private sector. Before independence there were 43 engineering colleges with total intake of 3400 seats both under graduate and post graduate courses. There are more than 3300 engineering colleges in India with an intake of 16.7 lakh seats, There has been a quantum jump in in the expansion of the Engineering educational system country. The future of any nation today, not only depends on the abundance of resources which it possesses but also on the specialized skills, competence and abilities possessed by its populace which can be harnessed to utilize its natural resources. Engineering is the key to the technological, economic and societal development of any nation because it cannot be divorced from any aspect of present day human activities.

The impulse for creation of centers of technical training came from the British rulers of India, and it arose out of the necessity for the training of overseers for construction and maintenance of

public buildings, roads, canals, and ports, and for the training of artisans and craftsmen for the use of instruments, and apparatus needed for the army, the navy, and the survey department. The superintending engineers were mostly recruited from Britain from the Cooper's Hill College, and this applied as well to foremen and artificers; but this could not be done in the case of lower grades craftsmen, artisans and sub-overseers who were recruited locally. As they were mostly illiterate, efficiency was low. The necessity to make them more efficient by giving them elementary lessons in reading, writing, arithmetic, geometry, and mechanics, led to the establishment of industrial schools attached to Ordnance Factories and other engineering establishments. While it is stated that such schools existed in Calcutta and Bombay as early as 1825, the first authentic account we have is that of an industrial school established at Guindy, Madras, in 1842, attached to the Gun Carriage Factory there. A school for the training of overseers was known to exist in Poona in 1854.

The first engineering college was established in the U.P. in 1847 for the training of Civil Engineers at Roorkee, which made use of the large workshops and public buildings there that were erected for the Upper Ganges Canal. The Roorkee College (or to give it its official name, the Thomason Engineering College) was never affiliated to any university, but has been giving diplomas which are considered to be equivalent to degrees. In pursuance of the Government policy, three Engineering Colleges were opened by about 1856 in the three Presidencies. In Bengal, a College called the Calcutta College of Civil Engineering was opened at the Writers' Buildings in November 1856; the name was changed to Bengal Engineering College in 1857, and it, was affiliated to the Calcutta University. It gave a licentiate course in Civil Engineering. In 1865 it was amalgamated with the Presidency College. Later, in 1880, it was detached from the Presidency College and shifted to its present quarters at Sibpur, occupy in the premises and buildings belonging to the Bishop's College. Proposals for having an Engineering College at Bombay city having failed for some reasons, the overseers' school at Poona eventually became the Poona College of Engineering and affiliated to the Bombay University in 1858. For a long time, this was the only College of Engineering in the Western Presidency. In the Madras Presidency, the industrial school attached to the Gun Carriage Factory became ultimately the Guindy College of Engineering and affiliated to the Madras University (1858). The educational work in the three Colleges of Sibpur, Poona, and Guindy has been more or less similar. They all had licentiate courses in civil engineering up to 1880, when they organized degree classes in this branch alone. After 1880, the demand for mechanical and electrical engineering was felt, but the three Engineering Colleges started only apprenticeship classes in these subjects. The Victoria Jubilee Technical Institute, which was started at Bombay in 1887, had as its objective the training of licentiates in Electrical, Mechanical and Textile Engineering In 1915, the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, opened Electrical Engineering classes under Dr. Alfred Hay, and began to give certificates and associate ships, the latter being regarded equivalent to a degree. In Bengal, the leaders of the Swadeshi Movement organized in 1907 a National Council of Education which tried to organize a truly National University. Out of the many institutions it started, only the College of Engineering and Technology at Jadavpur had survived. It started granting diplomas in a mechanical and engineering course in 1908 and in chemical engineering in 1921. The credit of first starting degree classes in mechanical and electrical engineering and in metallurgy belong to the University of Banaras, thanks to the foresight of its great founder, Pt. Madan Mohan Malaviya (1917). About fifteen years later in 1931-32, the Bengal Engineering College at Sibpur started mechanical engineering courses, electrical engineering courses in 1935-

36, and courses in metallurgy in 1939-40. Courses in these subjects were also introduced at Guindy and Pune about the same time.

In 1945 the Sarkar Committee was appointed to suggest options for advanced technical education in India. The Sarkar committee recommended the establishment of higher technical institutes based on the pattern of Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the four regions of India. This resulted in the setting up of the five Indian Institutes of Technology at Kharagpur (1950), Bombay (1958), Kanpur (1959), Madras (1960) and Delhi (1961). ( Delhi was added on to the original four). The All India Council for Technical Education was set up in 1945, to oversee all technical education (diploma, degree and post-graduate) in the country. . On the recommendations of the Engineering Personnel Committee appointed by the Planning Commission (1955), the Government of India made provisions for the establishment of eight Regional Engineering Colleges (REC) while seven more were added by bringing the total number to fifteen besides strengthening the PG courses and doctoral programs in Engineering.

Figure 1.1: Time Line of Indian Engineering Education [1].There has been a significant increase in the number of engineering institutions and in

student output. Engineering is a preferred career choice for a large number of students atthe 10 + 2 Science level particularly ( Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry ) in India. Many of the reputed engineering colleges (IITs and NITs) are highly selective in their admission process with the number of available seats being only 1-2% of the number applying. A large number of private engineering colleges have been set up. Though there is a mechanism for accreditation National Board of Accreditation ( NBA ) an umbrella agency, set up by All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) in 1994 to monitor and control engineering education and to provide quality of engineering education in India.

Figure 3.1 shows the institute wise distribution of sanctioned intake of engineering graduates

for 2006 in India. Private engineering colleges have a sanctioned intake of about 4.20 lakh(76%) while the government institutes account for about one lakh sanctioned intake (21%).The share of Tier 1 Institutions (7 IITs and IISc) is only 1% and that of the NationalInstitutes of Technology is 2%. There are about 1100 private engineering colleges andabout 320 government engineering colleges.

Collaboration: National Efforts in India

In view of a larger turn over of Engineering graduates with a majority of them suffering from skills gap, India need to take suitable measures. A report published in May 2010 from the Secretariat of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), gave a statistical account of the status of the Engineering and IT related human capital of India with evidence from a publication of the Government of India, along with a remark confirming the persistence of the skills gap between the competency of the entry level engineering graduates and the expectations of the IT industry in India. According the OECD report,“India has a very large pool of labour, with nearly 60% of its population between the ages of 15-59, and more than 50% below the age of 25. Despite the lack of universal literacy, the Indian Education system creates a large number of IT professionals. Indian curricula are heavily based on science, mathematics and engineering, creating a suitable environment for producing IT professionals.” Despite the developmental progress in India, the Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE) called for an enhanced interaction between the academia and industry to the level obtainable in technologically developed countries where industry collaboration plays a vital role. The Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE) has, over the past year, conducted an extensive strategic review and planning exercise which included a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis and identified a number of important issues facing the Academy, one of which includes: “How to develop and promulgate Academy policies on key issues in the application of science, technology and engineering”. There are ample evidences in literature, which confirm the fact that both developed and developing nations are constantly looking inwards to see how they can improve their engineering education in order to be better able to solve their current problems and at the same time prepare for the future. Theoretical approach insists on collaboration between academy and industry all throughout. But in practice the concept of collaboration is either missing or lacking. The strength of IT professionals is found less than the strength of graduates produced in India as per statistics released for the years from 2003 to 2008 and the details aregiven in the following table.

Table 1.1 Indian IT labour supply: IT software and services

Description ofCategories

2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08

1) Degree ( four years )

139000 170000 2220000 270000 290000

2) Diploma & MCA ( three years)

177000 195000 219000 231000 246000

3) No. Engineering graduates of which

316000 365000 441000 501000 536000

3. 1)Engineering IT graduates ( degree )

840000 102000 133000 162000 180000

3.2)Engineering IT graduates ( diploma )

95000 990000 113000 118000 123000

** No of IT professionals 179000 201000 245000 280000 303000

Note: ** IT professionals include Computer Science, Electronic and Telecomprofessionals. Figures do not include employees in the hardware sector..

Table 1.1 shows that there is a gap between the output number of Engineering graduates and the number of IT professionals under each year spanning from 2003 to 2008. It depicts the labour supply status of the Indian IT sector. Even at current levels of employability, India has the largest pool of suitable offshore talent, accounting for 28% of the total suitable pool available across all offshore destinations. NASSCOM estimated a demand for 850 000 IT and 1.4 million ITeS professionals in the 2009-10 financial year, outstripping new supply. However, Indian education tends to underestimate the importance of creative activities, and there is always a mismatch between the knowledge and real practice amongst the professional labour force. One of the recent surveys undertaken by the The FICCI-CVOTER2010 Survey86 of decision makers of India Inc., including CEOs, MDs, Human Resource Directors, et al., reiterates the growing importance of soft skills and vocational training in furthering career prospects of the present and future breed of professionals. The Survey Report further stated that, “So an IT career aspirant today does not only need to know how to write a hard-to-crack C++ program but should also be able to work well with others, know how to lead a team, prepare a quick power point presentation and in general a good communication skill besides nontechnical skills expected of, by the industry.

Engineering, as a subject and practice as well, is very much a social activity with political, ethical and economic dimensions. It is a fact that there is worldwide transformation in engineering education driven by industry needs. Employment in Engineering warrants for a

variety of skills, including visualization and communication skills. According to Lumsdaine and Lumsdaine, “Feedback from industry states that, Industry is increasingly looking for employees who can think holistically, who can innovate, who can work in teams, who can synthesize and who can integrate environmental and societal values and ethics in their work.” Engineering Institutions in good number have been on the increase year after year all over the world including India. The question is “Do the Engineering institutions produce Engineers with Employability skills, otherwise known as Non-technical skills?” According to Burse, the answer is “Studies worldwide have revealed that employers believe, entry level engineering employees are incompetent in the broader non-technical skills”. Narsee, confirms this view saying, “Employers also felt that educational institutions need to place more emphasis on teaching the so called softer skills”.2 His paper throws more light on the feedback of the other two stakeholders, namely, the Industry and the Governments.In the light of employability skills, irrespective of field or subject, there is always a skills gap between the skills expected by the Industry and what is actually available with the graduates. This is a phenomenon applicable to all areas at all times. The main attribute contributing to the above phenomenon is the ever dynamic and fast changing organizational climate and workforce requirement. The issue of skills gap seems to get complicated in the present day environment due to innumerable factors such as globalization, technological developments, faster obsolescence rate in Computer Science and Technology, multi-cultural working environments, International competition, demands of the present generation and the like. Engineering and Technology based industries are not exception to this situation. Though initiatives and measures are in the continuous updating process at the national and international levels, they are not able to zero the skills gap. The more attempts are tried to bridge the gap, the more the requirements go on increasing. Hence, the problem of skills gap warrants for a continuous surveillance and vigilance is required in this area to bridge the gap and meet the industry needs. A mismatch between the industry needs and the competence of entry level engineers do exist. National Governments and International Engineering bodies have been evolving standards and analytical reports periodically in order to help the engineering institutions bridge the gap. The Government of India is aware of the crux of the problem and is on the move to introduce legislation in the context of bridging the skills gap. Regarding the steps for improving the situation and enhancing the standard and quality of Engineering education, in accordance with the industry needs and expectations, a lot of changes are on the way to revamp the way the Education System is governed in India. Changes have reached the doorsteps through the formation of working groups. In this context, a lot of situation audits are essential. This investigation may contribute its mite to the thoughts and initiatives inclined towards solutions to bridge the gap with a healthy national economy in mind. The widespread discussion is on the concept of bridging the gap through making provisions for the development of the basic/generic skills and re-engineering of education. All these belong to a top down approach. The problem needs a bottom up -- ex ante approach also. The development should be addressed when the students are young and the philosophical foundations of education should be made stronger with appropriate thoughts towards achieving a wholeness of development in the mind and the body of the student. All these depend on the philosophical foundation of education in its right perspective. Indian tradition of education is, no doubt, has a rich heritage with laudable philosophical base the pinnacle of which lies in Gandhian thoughts. Luiz et al., 8 state that, “Engineering and technology are critical inputs for economic development and competitiveness.” Engineering Education directly or indirectly contributes to the Gross Domestic Product of every nation ultimately

leading to human welfare. The present day society is acclaimed to be an information society, knowledge society or network society. Apart from how it may be called, its most visible element is the rapid development of the Information Communication Technologies, and the fast increasing amount of information.The society is passing through a transformation. According to Tynjala et al., “New kinds of expertise are needed, and many organizations have turned into knowledge intensive innovation centers in which collaborative work, networking, and transformative and creative learning have become key concepts in organizational development. This change affects also engineering education.” Engineering Education has been rightly defined by the Knowledge Commission of India in its recent report as, “Engineering education consists of three well-defined aspects -- knowledge, know-how, and character. The knowledge component enables one to understand what one learns in relation to what one already knows and provides the continuity in education while know-how is the ability to translate knowledge into action. The knowledge component has an invariant core that consists of fundamentals based on universal laws and an outer layer of constantly improving and rapidly expanding empirical knowledge of particular systems, constantly changing applications of increasing sophistication and complexity and constantly improving tools. Education thus described is a combined responsibility of academia, industries, professional associations and society.”10 A nation’s educational program should, among other things, aim at solving the problems facing the nation and improving the economy through wealth creation. It is well known that engineers contribute to such a wealth creation and shape the future of the nation. Many nations, whether developed or underdeveloped are looking inward, studying the trends of change, suggesting and making modifications to their engineering education content in order to produce engineering graduates capable of carrying their nations through the change and challenges of time. Szpytko states that, “The expansion in technology and materials development has been so rapid that for the first time in our history we have made obsolete many of the rules and much of the infrastructure that serves society’s needs today. The effect of globalization has driven through tremendous changes within the industry world-wide.” He further adds that, with technology advances, workplace changes can lead to exciting and rewarding careers that may require to be flexible and committed to continuing professional development. The key to survival is establishing a framework for life-long learning world-wide. In the face of business globalization the engineers must sharpen their capability to communicate both in the written and oral modes and must work in teams to tackle issues and resolve problems. According to Grabowski and Szpytko, “Engineering education for the 21st century must prepare students, the future technologists to face real world problems, to satisfy industry needs. Graduate students must be prepared for a rapidly changing environment, driven by the accelerated rate of technical innovation, essential skills for the future, the ability to engage in life-long learning, to communicate and cooperate across disciplines and geographical boundaries.” This phase of the engineering education and industrial needs, seen through the eyes of an engineering student should be on his/her search for a future employee. Engineering education in India has its firm foundation since long.

1.2 Employability Skills Gap

It is an acknowledged fact that knowledge, skills, and resourcefulness of people are vital to sustain social and economic development in a knowledge society. Employability is defined as the acquisition of those skills, which not only help in landing in a job but also allow a

person to sustain. Currently while there is no dearth of opportunities in the employment scenario, there is a serious lack of employable talent. While there is abundant talent in India, the proportion of industry-ready candidates is alarmingly low, posing a huge challenge for the industry in meeting its requirement, questioning the future of engineering graduates coming out of the college and university portals. Attributes to this problem are many.

Globalization -- Changing Needs of the Employers

In the new millennium, globalization has been emerging as a powerful force in shaping domestic and world economies. It is removing the trade barriers between nations and promotes the integration of nations’ economies through financial flow, trade in goods and services and corporate investments between nations. Globalization is on the increasing trend due to the fast progress in Communication, Engineering, Science and Technology. “India also joined the current as early as 1991 by bringing changes in its economic policy for allowing direct foreign investments in the country.” For the past two decades, there have been changes in the specific skills required to enter and succeed in the work environment. Employers have talked about the importance of new skills for employees to work more effectively. Among the skills that employers look for are: communication skills and ability to use general skills in the workplace. These include the ability to write, speak and calculate, the ability to work in groups and the ability to listen effectively. Employers are also looking for employees who are adaptable and flexible, have good work ethics, initiative and possess leadership skills. Any report on the global trend, from the employers’ point of view does speak of the gap between Engineering Graduates' competence and the Industry needs. Organizations and their clients have limited tolerance for inept performance of entry level engineers. Often engineers have to engage directly with clients in complex interactions. Educators are expected to teach competencies that are relevant and enhance an organization's performance as Wilkinson21 observes in his publication. Universities around the world have become increasingly aware of the need to be able to demonstrate, in a quantifiable manner, the skills and attributes that their graduates are imbued with during their learning experience as expressed in a paper by Waters et al., 22. Reforms in Engineering Education have a long but slow history. Felder, remarked, “We teach primarily mechanics and not reasoning methods; memorization and routine application, and not analysis, synthesis and evaluation. We don’t encourage creativity and independence of thought, and in fact often do our best to discourage them.” Sadly nothing much has changed on the ground. The community that is responsible for transforming the life style of the world has not yet transformed its own educational process as observed by experts.

Economic growth in India has, in the last few years, picked up considerable momentum with services and recently, the manufacturing sector showing a great deal of buoyancy. While the jury is out on whether the country can sustain a GDP growth of 9% per annum, it is generally agreed that much greater attention would have to be paid to the area of skill development In a highly competitive world, being academically sound might just not be sufficient for graduates. According to experts, accomplishing a number of pre-requisites starting with communication, aptitude and presentation skills go a long way in making the graduates employable and industry-ready. The competence requirements of engineers are changing and increasing rapidly. Therefore, this challenges engineering education

in general. A process of structural transformation is also under way in a post modern society. Fast growth of information society, in this regard, is affecting more the working life competence needs. Continuous competence development forms the basis for good employment and positive career prospects. While highlighting the status of employability of Indian graduate engineers, Mr. Amit Bansal, CEO, Purple Leap, from Hyderabad says,"The times right now are very challenging. The global economic crisis is expected to lead to a dramatic increase in the number of people joining the ranks of the unemployed. The task becomes more daunting for entry level professionals especially if they are found lacking in the basic skills necessary for employability. The Industry Companies today want candidates who not only possess the critical skills but are ready to start work from day one, because mostly nobody wants to spend time and money on training the new entrants. All of this means that students will need to do all that they can work on their skills and be industry ready. Just going to college and finishing their studies is evidently not enough”.88 The implied meaning is that the graduate engineers in order to satisfy the industry needs, should possess soft skills and competencies. Engineering Institutions of higher learning play an important role in developing and enhancing human capital for the IT industry. The skills gap is a reality leaving a majority of the entry level engineering graduates to the fate of unemployment or underemployment. One of the ways available to bridge the skills gap is for institutions of higher learning to reach out to industries to better understand their workforce requirements. This will enable institutions of higher learning to design new curriculum and redesign existing ones to be market-driven, placing emphasis on creativity, innovation and other enabling skills. Such collaboration between Engineering institutions and industries with initiatives from the government can ensure a supply of engineering workforce matching the market requirements. As the world moves towards a more globalised economy, the importance of innovation in addition to economic and infrastructural development as a driver of sustainable economic growth cannot be underestimated. Innovation which requires the involvement of engineers at various stages, increases competitiveness, which in turn leads to employment generation and wealth creation. The engineering graduates at the entry level of recruitment need to be equipped with non-technical skills besides their technical qualifications, in order to meet the challenging needs of the industry. The Academy should shoulder the task of bridging the gap of the entry level engineers enhancing the potential of their employability.

Engineering Students

The students who formed the sample of the study were from engineering stream. They were students at the entry level who had passed a qualifying school leaving exams conducted by their respective State or Central board.

Soft Skills

Soft skill is all about how people learn and think. They are basically behavior, personality, attitude, preferences, personal integrity, communication style, leadership and/or management aptitude and style. Soft skills are more difficult to observe, quantify, and measure than hard skills. Organizations often make selection decisions based on people’s soft skills –and then provide the necessary hard-skills training. Soft skills are intra- and inter-personal (socio-emotional) skills, essential for personal development, social participation and workplace success. They include skills such as communication,

ability to work on multidisciplinary teams, adaptability etc. These skills are distinguished from technical, or ‘hard skills’. They are characterized as ‘skills’ in order to emphasize the fact that they can be acquired / developed by suitable training efforts, and they can also be combined, towards the achievement of complex outcomes.

Employability Skills

Transferable core skill groups that represent essential functional and enabling knowledge, skills, and attitudes required by the 21st century workplace…necessary for career success at all levels of employment and for all levels of education. Various terms have been used to describe employability skills: key skills, core skills, transferable skills, soft skills and generic skills. Collectively, the lists have five common elements, as listed under.

Basic Skills

This comprises of basic skill required in all fields at the basic level. There are two major areas that students are assessed and trained in. Mathematical ability ensures that the student is able to solve basic mathematical problems .Verbal ability enables students to read, comprehend and arrive at logical understanding. It also enhances vocabulary to improve communication.

Personal Skills

Personal skill is the ability to understand one self, manage stress and extend support to others and have a positive attitude. Personal management also looks at the combination of skills, attitudes and behaviors required to get, keep and progress on a job and to achieve the best results. Aspects like responsibility that exerts a high level of effort and determination towards goal attainment, Self Esteem that’s helps to believes in one’s own self-worth and maintains a positive self-view; Sociability – demonstrates understanding, friendliness, adaptability, empathy and politeness in group settings.; Self-Management – assesses self accurately, sets personal goals, monitors progress, and exhibits self control; Integrity/Honesty – chooses ethical courses of action etc., also go on to encompass a whole gamut of personal skills.

People Skills

People skill focuses on team development and performance. Team development refers to the ability to help the team form and finish a goal. Team performance refers to the team dynamics and working to maintain relationships. It also includes the capacity to interact effectively with other people both on a one to one basis and in groups, including understanding and responding to the needs of others and working effectively as a member of a team to achieve a shared goal.

Thinking Skills

Thinking skill includes the ability to recognize and define problems, invent and implement solutions, and track and evaluate results and the ability to look into the future and plan accordingly. It also includes creative thinking which involves generating new idea, decision making – specific goals and constraints, generate alternatives, consider risks, and evaluate and choose the best alternative.Problem solving is yet another aspect of thinking skills which recognizes problems; devises and implements a plan of action. ‘Knowing How to Learn’ is another dimensions that helps to use

efficient learning techniques to acquire and apply new knowledge and skills; Reasoning enables one to discover a rule or principle underlying the relationship between two or more objects and apply the same when solving a problem.

Work Skills

Work skill includes attitude that promote and encourage change. These behaviours include risk taking and an ethical approach in one’s work. It also includes managing time – select goal relevant activities, rank them, allocate time, and prepare and follow the schedule. It also involves leadership – communicate ideas to justify position, persuade and convince others, responsibly challenge existing procedures and policies. Another important aspect of work skills is to negotiate – work towards agreement involving exchange of resources, resolves divergent interests and work well with men and women from diverse backgrounds.

Engineering Education in Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh is one of the well developed states in India both economically and educationally Andhra Pradesh is having highest number of private Engineering colleges in India and it has 720 engineering colleges, 20 universities, one IIT, one NIT and 3 IIITs. The University College of Engineering (UCE) Osmania University has the distinction of being the oldest and the biggest among the Engineering Colleges of the State of Andhra Pradesh, established in the year 1929, eleven years after the formation of Osmania University, it was the 6th Engineering College to be established in the whole of British India. The Government of Composite Madras State sanctioned the present Engineering College at Visakhapatnam in 1946 even though the seeds of Technological education were sown when Sugar Technology was started in the year 1933. In 1946, initially the College was located at Cocanada, now called as Kakinada. After the separation of Andhra State in 1953, the Department of Engineering with Mechanical, Civil and Electrical Engineering sections was started as a part of Andhra University. National Institute of Technology (formerly known as Regional Engineering

College), Warangal was established in !959. Similarly Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad was established in 2008. These two are Premier, High Standard Institutes of National importance. Birla Institute of Technology (Deemed University) Topmost and Premier Private Engineering Institution in India opened its branch in Hyderabad in 2007.

Velagapudi Ramakrishna Siddhartha Engineering College established in the year 1977, is the first private Engineering College in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Andhra Pradesh is divided into three regions named as Coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema and Talangana. Coastal Andhra consists of 9 districts, Rayalaseema consists of 4 districts and Telangana consists of 10 districts.

Apart from all Government of AP led by Dr. YS Rajasekhara Reddy introduced Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies in March of 2008. The AP Government created RGUKT by an act of the Legislature as a full-fledged university which would initially admit roughly the top 1% of the rural students into the three residential campuses viz. Basara (Adilabad) Telangana, Edipulapaya (YSR Kadapa) Rayalaseema and Nuziveedu (Krishna) Coastal Andhra. These institutes are called IIITs (International Institute Of Information Technology). There are three technological universities in AP one in each region. Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU) in Hyderabad Telangana region (JNTUH), Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University in Anantapuram, Rayalaseema region (JNTUA) and Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University in Kakinada Coastal Andhra region (JNTUK).

In June, 2008 Govt. of AP led by Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy introduced Reimbursement of Tuition Fee (RTF) in Professional Education to all candidates whose annual income is less than one lakh rupees per anum. Andhra Pradesh was the first state to introduce the RTF in private sector professional colleges. Before 2008 there were 350 private engineering colleges in A.P. After introduction of RTF by Dr. Rajasekhar Reddy more than 650 colleges were established in 2009-10 academic year. After the death of Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhar Reddy, the Governments led by Sri. K. Roshiah & N. Kiran Kumar Reddy failed to explain and promote the RTF Scheme properly and the Private college managements had to get crores of RTF amount from Government. The students are also in doldrum stage whether the State Government will continue RTF or not? In the Academic Years of 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14 and 2014-15 most of the Engineering Colleges witnessed poor admissions in their colleges. Majority of private engineering colleges caught themselves in a position not even pay salary bills to faculty and staff. About 50 private engineering colleges are ready to shut down their doors. At present there are 720 engineering colleges in AP with total sanctioned intake of 364192 and only 115278 seats were filled and 248914 seats were kept vacant. There are 356 engineering colleges in Telangana, 101 engineering colleges in Rayalaseema and 262 engineering colleges in Coastal Andhra. In Andhra Pradesh engineering colleges should first get

permission from APSCHE, Hyderabad and after getting permission then apply to AICTE for approval. AICTE after scrutiny and physical verification of campus, Infra structure, Laboratories and Faculty and if satisfies then only grants permission to run the engineering college.

There are 9 districts in coastal Andhra region out of 3 are north costal, 3 are central costal (delta) and 3 are south coastal districts. The north coastal districts are Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam.

Srikakulam

Srikakulam is one of the backward districts of AP and the seeds of engineering education started in 1997 with the opening of GMR institute of Technology in Rajam. Now there are 8 private engineering colleges in Srikakulam district with total intake of 4140 and total enrollment is 2501 in 2014. In 2012 there are 10 engineering colleges were there and two engineering colleges Siva Rama Krishna Engineering College, Turakakota, Nandigam Mandal and Mitra Institute of Technology, Srikakulam are closed in 2013. Prajna Institute of Technology and Management is also going to close in 2015.

Vizianagaram

Vizianagaram is well developed in education, because the Gajapathi rulers of Viziayanagaram opened schools, colleges and music schools. The seeds of engineering education started in 1998 by opening of MVGR College of Engineering in 1998. At present there are 15 private and 1 Government engineering colleges named JNTU College of Engineering established in 2008. Total sanctioned intake seats in Vizianagaram district is 6420 out of 3090 seats are enrolled in 2014.

Visakhapatnam

Visakhapatnam is the biggest city in Coastal Andhra and highly developed in Education. The first engineering college started in Visakhapatnam in 1946 in Andhra University. Gandhi Institute of Technology and Management is the first private engineering college in Visakhapatnam district established in 1974. It is now a famous deemed university called as GITAM University. Now there are two Government and thirty private engineering colleges in Visakhapatnam district with a total intake of 15480 out of 9801 seats are filled in 2014.