Gujarat: Aerospace edu to get wings

With more than 40% seats in engineering colleges lying vacant, the Gujarat government is eyeing the aerospace sector. With the aviation industry swelling, the government is exploring options to offer short-term diploma and certificate courses in the sector. The admission to regular engineering courses has been gloomy with only 41,000 applications considered by the Admission Committee for Professional Courses (ACPC) for 67000 seats. Of the 46847 PINs being sold, 43021 have registered of which only 40994 have been verified and considered valid for admissions.

"The regular engineering courses are not being preferred by the students. This is the main reason that we are now exploring options in aerospace sector. The job prospects in this sector is around 34%. Small cities are also being connected through airspace and are on the policy radar of the central government hence there is a lot of employment opportunities. The department has been brainstorming to delve on courses that promises better placements. This is the new and emerging sector. We have had meetings with Boeing as well to understand the kind of area we need to tap on. We are also in talks with Dehradun as they have expertise in this area. IIT-Delhi and IIT-Mumbai are also giving inputs on this. To work in aerospace requires knowledge not just of one discipline with but the multidisciplinary approach, having knowledge of electrical, mechanical, chemical, engineering. We are working on modalities and nothing has been finalized yet. The entire attempt is in a nascent stage," KK Nirala, Director, Technical Education said.

"Our intention is to explore the aerospace sector and offer some short-term and diploma programmes. We have already made a provision in the budget and are in the process of working out how to bring in faculty, experts, trained staff. Engineering across the country is witnessing a downward trend. But we through this new sector, we are attempting to tap on the potential of the aviation sector and employment opportunities," Anju Sharma, Principal Secretary, Higher and Technical education said.

"In present times, colleges need to prepare students holistically and not just with bookish knowledge. Students should have logical thinking, good communication skills, people handling skills alongwith domain knowledge," said professor Sudhir Jain, Director, IIT-Gandhinagar, commenting on the trend of vacant seats.

"Since two years, pharmacy has seen massive interest from students. The biggest concern this year is engineering. Nearly 30% self-financed colleges which do not have enough faculty strength or facilities will face difficulty in surviving as they will have less than 30% of strength in a class", said Navin Sheth, Vice-Chancellor, Gujarat Technological University.

POOR STATE

• Admission to regular engineering courses has been gloomy with only 41,000 applications considered by the Admission Committee for Professional Courses (ACPC) for 67000 seats
   
• Of the 46847 PINs being sold, 43021 have registered of which only 40994 have been verified and considered valid for admissions.