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D. Murali

CHENNAI, Nov. 15

ALTHOUGH India has one of the largest stock of scientists, engineers, and technicians, the quality of their training from many institutions remains poor, observes the World Bank, in a recent communiqué expressing its intent in improving technical and engineering education in India.

The bank has, therefore, approved a $250-million credit to boost the quality of emerging young technicians and engineers, under `The Technical/Engineering Quality Improvement Programme'. Its idea is to help India "supply its economy with the level of professional excellence needed to foster greater competitiveness and productivity".

The project is to be implemented in six States, viz. Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh, under the co-ordination of the Department of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE), the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) and the Government of India.

There are many weaknesses in the technical education system, despite the efforts of the MHRD and the AICTE, the bank added. For instance, owing to multiple controls on the system, most institutions lack authority in matters of faculty appointments, student admissions, structure and content of programmes, student evaluation, and financial management; there is resource constraint combined with low resource utilisation efficiency; the dropout and failure rates are high; infrequent revision of curricula; delays in the conduct of examinations and declaration of results lead to poor quality and relevance of programme offered; and quality of teachers is low and there is a severe shortage of teachers in areas critical for enhancing economic competitiveness.

The programme would be implemented over a period of 10 to 12 years in two to three overlapping phases, each of about five years' duration. Initially, the bank's assistance would be provided only for the first phase of about five years.

Engineering colleges, technical universities and polytechnics will be selected to participate in the project on a competitive basis depending on their "capabilities and long-term planning for quality improvement".

About 20 well-performing engineering education institutions will be selected to play the role of `lead institutions', and a further 60 to 80 institutions will be networked by the project. Impact is expected to reach over a lakh students, which accounts for about 10 per cent of the total number of students enrolled for engineering degrees in India.

Funds would be utilised predominantly for quality-enhancing activities, such as "the introduction of teaching and research programmes in cutting edge technologies, and the modernisation of existing programmes and facilities". Other areas would be faculty training, extension services and development of new facilities, depending on the long-term plan presented by each of the selected institutions. There would be emphasis on the institutions to provide "high quality technical and advisory services to local communities and industry".

The credit, from the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank's concessionary lending arm, has a 35-year maturity with a 10-year grace period and a 0.75 per cent service charge.

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