Date:28/05/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/05/28/stories/2008052860631200.htm

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Soft-skill training courses planned in universities

Special Correspondent

Photo: DIPR

Higher Education Minister K. Ponmudy (right) with chairman of CII, Tamil Nadu, Manikam Ramaswamy (left), and Higher Education Secretary K. Ganesan. —

CHENNAI: Soft-skill training courses for college students will be provided in all Tamil Nadu universities under the newly announced Choice-Based Credit System (CBCS), Minister for Higher Education K. Ponmudy announced here on Tuesday.

At a Vice-Chancellors’ Workshop organised by the University-Industry Consortium on Employability, the vice-chancellors as well as the industry participants noted that only about 30 per cent of college graduates were immediately employable. This was due to the lack of ‘soft skills’ like communication, leadership and management skills, they said. IT industry executives said that Indians were under-priced in the technology market because they did not possess the soft skills to complement their technical expertise.

Dr. Ponmudy noted that soft skills were needed by students to bring about a psychological balance while facing difficult situations. There was a lack of these skills among students who were focused more on gaining technical skills. These could not be learnt overnight. He announced that the government would incorporate soft skill training for all college students under the CBCS.

The chairman of the National Committee on Skills, Human Resource and Industrial Relations, B. Santhanam said that industry and society will benefit as a whole through such measures. He noted that the Consortium’s initiative in the University of Madras, where over 120 teachers from 61 colleges were trained to teach soft skills to post-graduate students, had been successful, and would be extended to all undergraduate students in the university this year.

A similar syllabus needed to be worked out for all universities. Speaking to The Hindu, Ms. Nalini Ravindran, Director of Collegiate Education, clarified that the courses would be optional, and would be offered in Part 4 of the CBCS curriculum. This would benefit students in the third semester and beyond, and hence would come into effect from the academic year 2009-2010, she said.

L. Ganesan, Secretary of Higher Education, said that this would benefit rural students in particular by equipping them with a means of tackling interviews. The employability ratio was as low as 15 per cent in rural areas, and this caused many students from the villages to migrate to city colleges.

At the workshop, Dr. Ponmudy also announced that the government would actively encourage certificate courses for workers conducted by the industry itself with examinations conducted by the Tamil Nadu Open University. He also welcomed industry participation in the Higher Education Council for Technical Education and other government initiatives.