The IT industry in the country is expected to clock a growth of 20 per cent in 2008-09 despite the prevailing economic recession and the Indian economy which has of late witnessed a slowdown, is set to regain its high growth momentum by September next year, feels Ganesh Natarajan, chairman, Nasscom.
Speaking at the 38th national annual convention of the Indian Society for Technical Education (ISTE) organised here by KIIT University, he said, “In the current scenario, the technological institutes are concerned over fresh recruitments in the IT job market in the backdrop of a deep sentiment of economic recession. However, there is no cause for panic as over one lakh job offers have been made for the next year by the IT players in the campus selection across the country.”
The Nasscom chairman pointed out that the size of the global IT industry is projected at $300 billion by 2020 and it would need a pool of about one crore professionals by that time, with a substantial chunk of these professionals being Indians.
Natarajan also shed light on the tie-ups being forged by Nasscom with educational institutes for imparting industry oriented skills to the professionals. “On a tentative basis, we have forged partnerships with about 100 colleges under Pune University for imparting industry skills to the students. These skills are provided using latest technologies and Cisco is our technology partner for this initiative.”
Speaking on the occasion, RP Yadav, chairman, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), said, “Today, there are more than 8,500 technical institutes in the country with an intake capacity of around 16.5 lakh and the mushrooming of such institutes has led to erosion of public confidence in professional education. We need to address the problem of faculty shortage in such institutes and also identify the critical factors which make an institute competitive.”
“The other challenge before professional education is the mismatch between academic curriculum and industry requirement. About 90 per cent of the jobs available in our country are skill-based while our professional education is largely knowledge-based. We need to groom the ideal human capital as it is the manpower which renders competitive edge to any industry”, he added. NR Shetty, president, ISTE said, “What is needed is identification of goals of engineering education to meet the contemporary requirement of industries. The institutions need to adopt a balanced mix of teaching research activities for achieving excellence in professional education.”
“Technical education being the basis of growth and development, we cannot afford to neglect it if our professionals want to play a strategic role the world over. Today, we are in a knowledge society where knowledge and skill have become buzzwords”, said MC Bhandare, Governor of Orissa.
Talking on the ISTE convention, A Samanta, founder, KIIT Group of Institutions said, “The holding of any ISTYE convention is a matter of great prestige for any state in general and the host institution in particular. The interest it generates and he the exposure the host institution gets through this convention can never be quantified.”