53 pc IT engg graduates unemployable, rues HRD Minister

Promises to focus on improving quality of students and teachers

Newly appointed Human Resource Development Minister M M Pallam Raju on Wednesday observed that more than half of the total engineering graduates from Information Technology stream fail to meet industry standards for employment and assured that his ministry would work towards remedying the situation.

“Only 17 per cent of IT engineering graduates are ready for recruitment by industry, 30 per cent can be trained and a whopping 53 per cent do not meet industry standards. This is alarming, we need to work on it,” he told reporters after taking charge of the HRD Ministry.

Answering a question on engineering colleges making fast money through the education route, the minister regretted that “Technical education has become a business”.
He was categorical that his Ministry would encourage only institutions which deliver quality.

Hailing his predecessor Kapil Sibal for his “unprecedented” initiatives in different areas such as capacity building in higher education sector, the Minister said he would focus on consolidating and carrying forward the path set out by Sibal.

“We will give a fillip to the new institutions. We will also focus on consolidation of the existing IITs and IIMs,” he said.

Expressing concern about eroding values among the youth, he said his Ministry would give a thrust to value education in schools.

“The youth are disillusioned with society, while the role of parents and gurus (teachers) has been diluted. There are distractions as well due to technology. The country has a rich heritage based on value system. It is important to make this heritage a part of education and strengthen our democracy through value system,” he added.

Enabling teachers to impart quality education was another area which his Ministry would focus on, he said.

On several bills of the HRD Ministry pending in Parliament, he said he would involve his colleagues—Ministers of State Shashi Tharoor and Jitin Prasada—in bringing parliamentarians on the same page and get the pending bills passed.