AICTE Chairman laments falling standards in engineering colleges

Most engineering institutes fail to offer quality education and produce efficient engineers, Anil D. Sahashrabudhe, the AICTE chairman, said on 2016-12-24.

The reason: these institutes do not follow the basic norms on student- teacher ratio and infrastructure, he said.

Of the around 3,200 engineering institutes in the country, nearly 80 per cent are private, he said. "This is one of the reasons for the decline in the overall standard of engineering education," Sahashrabudhe said at the 61st annual convocation of Jadavpur University, where he was the chief guest.

"There are definitely some very good institutes that maintain high academic standards. But barring these exceptions, most fail to produce good engineers as they don't comply with AICTE norms." The AICTE is the apex body that regulates engineering education in the country.

Its approval is must to set up an engineering institute or introduce new courses or increase student intake in a particular course.

Asked if there was any flaw in the AICTE's monitoring system that could be responsible for the falling standards, Sahashrabudhe said: " It is difficult to maintain a close watch on each and every institution. The AICTE gives its clearance based on a rigorous screening process." During the initial screening, institutes often show all requirements have been met.
In some cases they promise to fulfill gaps, if any, he said. "But most do not do so once the permission is given." The AICTE will inspect institutes, selected by drawing lots, at random on short notice, he said. Permission will be withdrawn if they are found flouting the norms, he said.

In his convocation speech, the AICTE chairman said: "The quality level of education has unfortunately not seen the degree of growth it should have. Industry bodies such as Nasscom, CII, Ficci keep lamenting about employability of graduates. This has been often led to under-employment of graduates." He, however, bracketed Jadavpur University among the exceptions "as it has been successful in maintaining high academic standards and producing efficient engineers".

Staying put in the same company for years doesn't mean you are a "squatter"

Staying put in the same organisation for years doesn't mean you are a 'squatter'. It is more about feeling comfortable and being appreciated
Swati has been working in the same organisation since the last ten years. She was taken aback when one of her friends asked her why she was staying put in the same place for so long. What made her stay put? A good boss? A great package? Flexible working hours? Or was it something else? In fact, she has never devoted much thought to it. Although a rarity , there are people who are proud to retire at the same place that they started their career from.

Working in the same place may not result in a fat salary hike, but it does make you feel at home at work.Like Swati, many others enjoy working in the same place for longer periods. Once you join a new company, it takes time to familiarize yourself with the new atmosphere and get friendly with the new staff.

The HR department is always happy to retain the cream of the crop and leaves no stone unturned to provide incentives to long-term employees. Chandan Chattaraj, president human resources (India & Global), Uflex Limited, agrees, "Employee retention is a very complex phenomenon and is impacted by many diverse factors. There are five important factors which by and large decide whether a high potential or high performance employee is going to stay or not, they are: business strategy, plan and model of organisation; leadership of the organisation; focus of the organisation on employee engagement and development; communication flow within the organisation; and overall working environment of the organisation.These five are also the factors which together create the culture of the organisation which further ignites an atmosphere where any employee will work with passion and will have a strong intent to stay."

A great culture and attractive incentives are necessary if you wish to retain employees over the span of decades. Quazi Mohammad Shahed, chief human resource officer (CHRO), Telenor India, is of the view that transparency is the hallmark of any organisation and the openness of the leadership helps in providing direction to the employees. He feels that interpersonal connect rather than bureaucratic hierarchy should be the ideal policy for any company. "It should follow a flat structure and irrespective of levels, employees should be heard across the organisation by the leaders. A company should also focus on rewarding its staff and a comprehensive and encouraging pay process should be followed to ensure that all employees have a stake in the company's performance," he adds.

Initiatives such as flexi hours, four days in a month work-from home policy, flexible leave policy etc, are a few interventions to ensure work-life balance for the employees.

Ranabir Chakraborty, GM-HR and administration, Fortum India, says, "Though career anchors vary with employee, gender, ethnicity, age and level, three commonly accepted foundations of retentions are meaningful work, equity and voice.

Chakraborty adds, "A company should endeavour constantly to allow employees to express their life interests in the job. When we saw a newcomer having his heart and soul in technology, we sculpted a role that is married to disruptive technology and innovation a rarity in our industry . Matching employees to jobs that allow intensely-rooted life interests to be expressed is tough."

On what should be the policy of an HR department vis-à-vis the employees to retain them, Chakraborty says, "Employees should be allowed to choose their own development path and to get trained in firm-specific skills, managerial capabilities as well as functional expertise. The policy should be on developing oneself at one's own will and leisure."

He further says, "Containing inequality, being non discriminatory and being inclusive are the most important dimensions of distributive justice. Work-related and administrative entitlements are same for all employees. An employee's voice and participation in organisational matters are brand promises for any company."

(Source: Toi Kolkata dated 2016-12-21)

CBSE Class X board exam to be back from March 2018

The governing body of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), the highest decision making body of the board, on 2016-12-20 approved the restoring of the Class X board exams, paving the way for the return of the public exam after seven years. The first board exam will be resumed in March 2018. It has been decided that the weightage division will be 80% to the board-based exam and 20% to internal assessment.

Since 2011, after the introduction of continuous and comprehensive evaluation in 2009, the CBSE made the Class X board exam optional, which meant students studying in senior secondary schools had the option to sit for the schoolbased exams. The board conducted a survey among various stakeholders and the majority was in favour of the Class X board exams. Thereafter, the HRD ministry announced the rollback of the optional scheme of the present Class X exam system.

"It was a unanimous decision of the members of the governing board. The matter was discussed threadbare and in principle it was decided to restore the exams scheme of the pre-CCE period. A circular to the effect on exam details, which will commence from 2018, will be shared with schools soon. It will be 80% weightage to the board-based exam and 20% to internal assessment," said R K Chaturvedi, CBSE chairperson.

"Members welcomed the decision and it was unanimous," said Jyoti Arora, member of the GB, CBSE and principal of Mount Abu Public School.

The present batch of Class X students will continue to study as per the current format where both the school-based and boardbased options will be open.

(Source: Toi Kolkata dated 2016-12-21)