AICTE mandates internship for engineering students

New Delhi: With an aim to expose engineering students to industry work practices and ground-level work, the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), the country’s technical education regulator, has mandated internships for students by introducing credits for the same in the overall evaluation scheme.

Now, the the total credits required for B.Tech programmes have been decreased from 220 to 160 for ensuring more focus on practical learning. Out of these, 14 credits will be reserved for industry exposure through internships.

As per this latest AICTE direction, students will have to undergo internship programme of around six to eight weeks before completion of their bachelor’s degree. Currently, only top engineering schools offer internships to their students, whereas more than 6000 institutes still don’t have such provision.

The new and improved syllabus launched by HRD minister Prakash Javadekar aims at boosting employability of the engineering students by making practical knowledge mandatory. With the compulsory internship, students will be able to connect with the industry and society in a better way.

Addressing the problem of majority of graduates finding it tough to get jobs, the minister said that the mushrooming growth of technical education sector requires updation of all the courses on annual basis. He also recommended training the professors regularly in order to keep them updated with the growing needs of industries.