Gaps and Maps - IT Education

Over a 1,000,000 engineering graduates. Less than 10,000 employable. Is it a case of too much or too little.

There are several theoreticians and analysts with a zillion reasons and cures. At a ground level, we do realize that the biggest gap is "Skill sets". Most of these graduates have done 4 years of studies. Most of which is irrelevant to the real world requirements.

I studied Marathi for 8 years at school. And did very well, getting marks in the 80's and sometimes even 90's. I live in Maharashtra. And yet, I don't speak Marathi very well. Seems like a huge wasted opportunity of not a few months but 8 years. The engineers issue is similar. They study a lot. But at the end of the day, how much of it can be practically used.

I got an interesting insight when my daughter who joined an IB school just 4 months ago, took Spanish as one of her subjects. In just 4 months, she speaks better Spanish, than I do Marathi. And the simplicity of the teaching is mind boggling. Its the concept of "Learning by Doing". Weekly assignments that ensure that the only way you can complete it is by understanding and doing. One example is an assignment to introduce your family. And so,  the parents, the siblings the home all have to be introduced by the student and filmed. Nothing fancy. Just a cell phone. All the students then present the same in Class, in Spanish. And answer questions of the teacher and other students. In Spanish. And so on.

Another interesting thought that comes to mind is the use of the word "Professional". We all refer to ourselves as "IT Professional". Let us take a minute to examine the word "Professional". Who are the others who refer to themselves as Professionals:
- Doctors
- CA's
- Lawyers

And what do all of them have in column. An extensive internship, with a extremely tough examination before they can be termed "Lawyers" and practice. A similar system will add great value to the Indian IT system. The toughness of the exam ahead ensures that the candidates put in hard work to learn and understand whilst working on the job. It also ensure a steady supply of interns which is the backbone of most professions.

The examinations can be computer based but simulated skill tests ensuring that the baggage of our current examination systems don't get carried forward making this yet another exam.