Page 14 - EW November 2024

Education News

DELHI in the country’s higher education
Belated awakening system often vilified for churning out

millions of unemployable graduates
with theoretical education, but no
experience of industry and business
workplaces. As a result according to
industry sources, India Inc incurs
the highest training cost of newly
recruited graduates worldwide.
Therefore, the expectation is that
with all graduates in engineering and
technology and in ASC (arts, science
and commerce) streams emerging
from HEI portals equipped with a
modicum or considerable (some
embedded learning courses may by
mutual HEI, corporate and student
agreement extend beyond a semes-
ter) workplace experience, India
Inc’s induction training costs will
reduce, enabling a substantial profit-
ability boost.
UGC headquarters, Delhi: hands-on learning directive “UGC’s new revised AEDP guide-
lines — the first UGC guidelines were
omewhat belatedly, the graduates and postgrads emerg- issued in 2020 — are a very welcome
importance of hands-on expe- ing from HEIs with zero hands-on development because they ensure
Sriential education has dawned experience of business and industry. that even arts, science and com-
upon educationists and education AICTE and UGC’s AEDP pro- merce students acquire hands-on
policy wonks. In April the Delhi- grammes are separate and distinct business and/or industry experience.
based All India Council for Technical from the already extant Bachelor of Similarly with AICTE having issued
Education (AICTE) which super- Vocational Studies (B.VoC) which is AEDP-TI guidelines for engineering
vises all engineering and technology a three-year undergrad degree pro- and technology undergrad students
education countrywide, issued Draft gramme for school-leavers in several earlier this year, henceforward all
Guidelines of its Apprenticeship vocations for specific trades and HEI graduates will have some busi-
Embedded Degree/Diploma Pro- industry (automobile engineering, ness or industry experience before
gramme (AEDP-TI) under which all software testing, fashion design etc) they enter their workplaces. This is
engineering and technology HEIs provided by colleges and universities certain to provide a significant pro-
(higher education institutions) are under the National Skills Qualifica- ductivity boost to Indian industry,
mandated to embed a hands-on busi- tions Framework (NSQF) 2014. while making higher education much
ness/industry experiential education Under the latest UGC guidelines, more interesting and rewarding for
semester in all study programmes. AEDP courses can be offered by India’s 43 million students in tertiary
Following suit, on October 30 any college with a NAAC accredita- education,” says Sumit Kumar, a
the University Grants Commission tion score of 3.01 or any university business management alum of Jabal-
(UGC) published its final draft of ranked in the top 200 of the National pur University and IIM-Ahmedabad
the Guidelines on the Apprentice- Institutional Ranking Framework and currently Chief Strategy Officer
ship Embedded Degree Programme (NIRF). Taken together AEDP-TI, of TeamLease Degree Apprentice-
(AEDP) for science, commerce and AEDP and the B.VOC vocational ship, a division of TeamLease Ltd,
humanities streams college/univer- education and training (VET) pro- India’s largest supervisory managers
sity students for public comment and grammes will ensure that all 43 mil- and shopfloor employees recruit-
feedback. lion students currently enrolled in ment company.
The objective of AICTE and India’s higher education system will Almost seven decades after inde-
UGC’s embedded apprenticeship graduate with at least one semester’s pendence — thanks to unacknowl-
programmes is to address common apprecenticeship/internship experi- edged media (especially Education-
criticism that higher education in ence in business and/or industry. World) pressure — wisdom seems to
India tends to be too theoretical with This represents a sea change have dawned upon education policy

14 EDUCATIONWORLD NOVEMBER 2024