File picture of engineering students attending a class in Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar, May 19: Engineering students may have to drop their holiday plans and head back to classroom as the state government has instructed colleges to utilise the summer break by conducting special programmes for students.

“Students pursuing BTech courses get four summer breaks lasting three months each. The vacations can be utilised for short-term programmes on communication, soft skills, and other market driven courses,” said secretary of technical education Chandra Shekhar Kumar.

He disclosed the plan at a conclave titled ‘Preparing Next Generation for Real World Challenges’ recently organised by the Odisha Private Engineering College Association (Opeca).

“This must be taken up after taking feedback from the recruiters of previous years and assessing market needs so that students can be groomed as per industry needs,” he added.

Private technical colleges in the state were sceptical about the plan, as only 35 per cent of the students are considered employable by recruiters. The secretary asked colleges not to depend fully on the Biju Patnaik University of Technology’s syllabus and design their own curriculum according to the needs of the industry.

“Engineering as a subject is vast and everyday there is some new addition globally. The institutes must update themselves about the syllabus in top institutes and make changes accordingly. There must be continuous evaluation and learning,” he said, adding that colleges must put in place a system of internal audit.

Kumar asked the colleges to prepare for the accreditation of the National Board of Accreditation and ensure that the norms and standards prescribed by the body were followed. At the conclave, emphasis was also laid on proper training of teachers.

Speaking on the occasion, Opeca secretary Binod Dash expressed concern about the poor quality of students passing out of schools.

“The state government must focus on quality education at the primary and secondary school levels so that engineering colleges get students of good standard. We welcome all the suggestions of the government,” he added.