REASON BEHIND AN ENGINEER'S UNEMPLOYMENT

Most of the students start having a vision of what they are going to achieve in their long run, but there are certain situations where students find difficult to get employed even after pursuing higher studies, this is because of lack in basic knowledge and verbal ability where academic result also fails to help. There are also a few cases where most colleges are unable to provide education to students which would help them get suitable jobs. This kind of scenario is mostly encountered with engineering students.

India has 6,214 engineering and technology institutions which are enrolling 2.9 million students. Around 1.5 million engineers are released into the job market every year. But the dismal state of higher education in India ensures that they simply do not have adequate skills to be employed.

It was alleged that 97% of the students aim to get employed either in software engineering or core engineering. However, only 3% of students with adequate skills have higher chances to get employed in software or product market and only 7% can handle core engineering tasks.  

According to the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), nearly 200 substandard engineering colleges have applied for closure. This may again lead to a lack of engineering colleges for all the branches. In 2015-16, total intake was 16, 47,155, of which enrolment was 8, 60,357, which was 52.2 percent. Whereas in 2016-17, total intake capacity at undergraduate level was 15, 71,220, of which total enrolment was 7, 87,127, which is just around 50.1 percent. So, rather than increasing, the enrolment percentage has decreased from 2015 to 2017. Also when observed, the intake capacity also decreased, in this case, indicating the low preferring of engineering field by the students. 

On the whole, though they have a good academic performance, most of the engineering students fail to participate in co-curricular activities and when it comes to their interview part, they lack in confidence levels as they have never interacted with people freely. Another case is where students feel justified just by passing the examination rather than learning the subject from it. Today, the market is looking for qualification along with certification and so students along with engineering certificate also need certain skills. Hence, there is a need for engineering institutions (especially private institutions) to create quality engineers instead of just giving away the certificates. Students also need to concentrate on the basic skills required for getting employed after their graduation.

In this context, change is being expected from both, engineering institutions (government and private) and also students, only when India will make its nourishment by providing the best engineering graduates who are well fit for employment.