<p>A study conducted by a private agency, in association with the Visvesvaraya Technological University, found that engineering students in the Kalyana Karnataka (KK) are lacking in problem-solving skills, logical thinking, and application.</p>.<p>FindInBox Private Limited, an AI-based skill assessment company, surveyed 850 students across eight colleges in three districts in Kalayana Karnataka – Bidar, Raichur and Kalaburagi.</p>.<p>The overall results found that students’ proficiency in problem-solving was 44.4%, while their ability to apply acquired skills was estimated at 41.8%.</p>.<p>Sanjeev Kubakaddi, co-founder of FindInBox, emphasised the need for students to be equipped with the requisite skills in the age of AI. “Both the university and the government must take measures to correct this,” he added.</p>.<p>Pooja Nagpal, a researcher at the University of Sydney who analysed the report, said that even those with scores of 68% in examinations secured as little as 12% when asked to write a working programme. “They can identify what a loop is but cannot construct one,” she said.</p>.<p>Other indicators of their deficient skillset include the students’ inability to fix errors in the code they have written.</p>.78% rise in computer science admissions in Karnataka in 5 years: Panel flags ‘crisis’.<p>“Students who scored more than 90% in theory examinations scored only 27% in programming,” she remarked.</p>.<p>Pooja lamented that the exams in India’s higher education system were structured to reward recognition over productivity. “In the final semester examinations, students are tested on definitions, derivations and their ability to recall short answers. Multiple-choice questions dominate internal assessment. Laboratory tests, where they are conducted, are graded on completion and not on the quality of code or the soundness of a design or the ability to resolve an unfamiliar problem,” Pooja said.</p>.<p>She said that the system was ‘out of step’ with the demands that the skill economy made of engineering graduates.</p>.<p>“The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has, in principle, mandated outcome-based education for more than a decade. The National Skills Qualifications Framework specifies the aptitude that engineering graduates are expected to demonstrate.” “The newly operational National Credit Framework integrates academic and skill-based credentials into a single architecture. The skills outlined in our policies, such as analysis, problem solving, application and critical thinking, are not absent from our syllabi. They are absent from our papers. And in an examination-driven system like India’s, what is not in the paper is not, in any operational sense, in the curriculum,” she said.</p>.<p>The study entailed asking students across all semesters to take a skill test, wherein they were tested on problem solving, logical thinking, and understanding, among others. Kubakaddi said that they focused on these skills since they were the most sought after by companies.</p>
<p>A study conducted by a private agency, in association with the Visvesvaraya Technological University, found that engineering students in the Kalyana Karnataka (KK) are lacking in problem-solving skills, logical thinking, and application.</p>.<p>FindInBox Private Limited, an AI-based skill assessment company, surveyed 850 students across eight colleges in three districts in Kalayana Karnataka – Bidar, Raichur and Kalaburagi.</p>.<p>The overall results found that students’ proficiency in problem-solving was 44.4%, while their ability to apply acquired skills was estimated at 41.8%.</p>.<p>Sanjeev Kubakaddi, co-founder of FindInBox, emphasised the need for students to be equipped with the requisite skills in the age of AI. “Both the university and the government must take measures to correct this,” he added.</p>.<p>Pooja Nagpal, a researcher at the University of Sydney who analysed the report, said that even those with scores of 68% in examinations secured as little as 12% when asked to write a working programme. “They can identify what a loop is but cannot construct one,” she said.</p>.<p>Other indicators of their deficient skillset include the students’ inability to fix errors in the code they have written.</p>.78% rise in computer science admissions in Karnataka in 5 years: Panel flags ‘crisis’.<p>“Students who scored more than 90% in theory examinations scored only 27% in programming,” she remarked.</p>.<p>Pooja lamented that the exams in India’s higher education system were structured to reward recognition over productivity. “In the final semester examinations, students are tested on definitions, derivations and their ability to recall short answers. Multiple-choice questions dominate internal assessment. Laboratory tests, where they are conducted, are graded on completion and not on the quality of code or the soundness of a design or the ability to resolve an unfamiliar problem,” Pooja said.</p>.<p>She said that the system was ‘out of step’ with the demands that the skill economy made of engineering graduates.</p>.<p>“The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has, in principle, mandated outcome-based education for more than a decade. The National Skills Qualifications Framework specifies the aptitude that engineering graduates are expected to demonstrate.” “The newly operational National Credit Framework integrates academic and skill-based credentials into a single architecture. The skills outlined in our policies, such as analysis, problem solving, application and critical thinking, are not absent from our syllabi. They are absent from our papers. And in an examination-driven system like India’s, what is not in the paper is not, in any operational sense, in the curriculum,” she said.</p>.<p>The study entailed asking students across all semesters to take a skill test, wherein they were tested on problem solving, logical thinking, and understanding, among others. Kubakaddi said that they focused on these skills since they were the most sought after by companies.</p>