TECHNICAL EDUCATION
4.01. During the year under review, the schemes and programmes of technical education carried over from the third Five Year Plan were continued and steps were taken (1) to improve the employment situation of engineering personnel and (2) to formulate proposals with a view to improving the quality of technical education and relating it more intimately to industry.
4.02. Engineering Personnel-Immediate Measures Adopted: 41
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3,000 engineers on various projects. It is too early to assess the impact of these measures but over 22,000 engineering graduates and diploma-holders are reported to have secured gainful employment in 1968.
4.03. The Union Government is also organising special courses to train engineers in entrepreneurship. In cooperation, with the Small-Scale Industries Department, two pilot courses have already been conducted and the programme is proposed to be extended to about a dozen centres in different parts of the country. As an example of what technical institutions themselves can do, the Madurai Polytechnic in Tamilnadu has allowed the use of its workshop equipment and machinery to unemployed diploma-holders for production purposes whenever these are not needed for teaching work. Job orders are secured from local industry for various engineering products and the diploma-holders execute these orders under the guidance of the polytechnic staff. The principal himself helps the diploma-holders to get job orders. Raw materials are secured and the products produced are sold to industrial organisations in the city. About 20 diploma- holders have done this productive work and earned anything between eight and ten rupees per day, after paying the cost of materials, hire charges for machinery, transport of finished goods and so on. Participants under the scheme have gained confidence and will be able to set up small workshops or repair workshops of their own to become self-employed.
4.04. Long-Term Measures: 4.05. The first essential requirement for quality is the im- provement of the teacher. Here, two problems had to be faced: shortage and upgrading of quality. In the last three Five-Year Plans, there has been a phenomenal expansion of technical education, so that, in spite of all efforts, colleges of engineering and polytechnics experienced a big shortage of teachers. In
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1963, there was 39 per cent shortage in engineering colleges and, 31 per cent shortage in polytechnics. To meet the situation, the Union Government initiated a programme of training teachers for engineering colleges at selected centres by recruiting brilliant graduates. The programme that extended over three years consisted of preparation for the master's degree in engineering, practical experience in industry and in-service training as teachers under the guidance of senior staff. The scheme started with about 100 trainees in 1959-60 and the number was gadually increased in the last ten years. During this period, over 600 first class teachers have been trained and supplied to various institutions. As a result of the scheme and also other measures like the improvement of pay scales of technical teachers, the shortage of staff in engineering colleges has been brought down, to 16.4 per cent in 1969 from 39 per cent in 1963. A similar improvement in the staff position at polytechnics has also been brought about. The shortage which was 31 per cent in 1963; has been brought down to 15.6 per cent in 1969. Four Technical Teachers Training Institutes have been set up at Madras, Bhopal, Chandigarh and Calcutta to train polytechnic teachers on a continuing basis.
4.06. Faculty development is a continuous process, that must provide for a wide range of opportunities for the serving teachers to improve their knowledge and professional competence. From this point of view, the Union Government started in 1963-64 summer institutes for engineering teachers. Every year, about 40 of these institutes, with an average enrolment of about 1,500 teachers, are being conducted. The summer institutes have done substantial work and it is proposed to extend the scheme to the extent possible to provide an opportunity of further training for every serving teacher. It is also proposed to organise a carefully planned programme of participation in field work for serving teachers at selected industrial organisations. To these centres, teacher, from polytechnics and engineering colleges will be brought for a period of a year or two depending upon the needs of each individual.
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4.07. During the year, vigorous steps were taken to relate technical education intimately to industry and to improve polytechnical education. The All-India Council for Technical Education has set up an expert committee to examine the whole system of polytechnic education and to prepare a blue, print for its reorganisation and further development for the next ten years. It has also decided to invite, to assist and advise the Committee, experts from Britain, Germany, USSR, USA, Japan and other countries where similar problems have been dealt with effectively and whose experience in this field will be of great value to us. A comprehensive programme has been formulated and is proposed to be implemented in the next financial year for the development of curriculum for engineering colleges and polytechnics, preparation of instructional materials including textbooks and reorganisation of laboratory experience. When the curriculum materials produced under the programme are available, they will be tried out extensively, improved and applied to all engineering institutions. It is also proposed to introduce sandwich courses in as many polytechnics as possible.
4.08 Indian Institutes of Technology:
ENROLMENT 1969-70
Institute Under- Post- Research Total Total
graduate graduate Out-turn
in
1969-70
Indian Institute
of Technology,
Bombay 1,700 500 80 2,280 487
Indian Institute
of Technology,
Delhi 1,226 302 162 1,690 297
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Institute Under- Post- Reseasrch Total Total Out- graduate graduate turn in 1969-70
Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur 1,292 375 264 1,931 335
Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur 1,805 599 107 2,511 643
Indian Institute of Technology Madras 1,20 395 236 1,912 470
7,304 2,171 848 10,324 2,232
4.09. The following new postgraduate courses were started
during the year:
Madras Institute:
(1) Electric Traction & Drives (M. Tech.)
(2) Industrial Engineering (in place of diploma courses
discontinued)
(3) Industrial Management
(4) Industrial Metallurgy
Bombay Institute :
(1) Industrial Design (Diploma)
(2) Aeronautical Engineering (M. Tech.)
Delhi Institute :
(1) Radar Engineering (M. Tech.)
(2) Mathematics (M. Sc.)
Kharagpur Institute:
(1) Radar Technology (M. Tech.)
(2) Computer Technology (M. Tech.)
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Kanpur Institute
(1) Systems Engineering
(2) Nuclear Science and Engineering
(3) Automatic Controls
The Institutes are conducting a number of summer schools for the
development of faculty of other engineering colleges as well as
seminars in collaboration with industry on selected industrial topics.
They have initiated a programme for the design and fabrication of
equipment to replace imported equipment for laboratories and
workshops.
4.10. National Institute of Foundry and Forge Technology
(Ranchi):
The Institute is being set up at Ranchi to train,
engineers and technicians for foundry and forge industry. The
construction of laboratories, workshops and instructional buildings
has made good progress. The Institute has conducted two short-term
courses, one in the technology of grey iron casting and the other on
forge technology in cooperation with the Heavy Engineering
Corporation. Over 40 persons sponsored. by industry attended the,
courses. The first long-term course in foundry and forge technology
is proposed to be started in June 1970 when the necessary
instructional facilities are expected to be fully developed.
4.11. National Institute for Training in Industrial Engineer-
ing, Bombay:
The Institute which started in 1963 with UN, Special
Fund assistance is being consolidated and its training programmes are
being re-structured to meet the changing needs, of industry. During
the year under review, the Institute conducted over 22 technique-
oriented courses for about 350 participants from industry. In
addition, it conducted 14 unit-based courses for about 200
participants from different groups of industry. It also proposed to
organise a full-time postgraduate course in industrial engineering
during 1970 to train a fresh cadre of industrial engineers.
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4.12. Indian Institutes of Management:
The Ahmedabad and
Calcutta Institutes of Management made further progress in developing
full-fledged programmes of management education at the postgraduate
level. The Ahmedabad Institute had 225 students and the Calcutta
Institute, 220 students for their respective full-time postgraduate
courses in management. The institutes are also conducting a wide
range of short-term courses for junior middle and top-level executives
sponsored by industry and commerce.
4.13. School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi:
The
school offers an integrated postgraduate course in town and country
planning, postgraduate course in architecture, urban design and a
bachelor's degree course in architecture. It also offers the national
diploma course in architecture on a part-time basis. The total
student enrolment is 426 of whom nearly 90 are in postgraduate
courses. The school conducted two seminars in 1969, one on traffic
and transportation and the other on urban landscape.
4.14. Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad:
The school offers
B.Sc. course in mining engineering and petroleum technology and M.Sc.
course in applied geology and geophysics. About 50 students were
admitted for these courses in 1969-70. The present student enrolment
at the school is 350.
4.15. Technical Teachers' Training institutes for Polytechnic
Teachers:
The buildings for the Madras and Chandigarh Institutes
have been completed and the institutes are functioning in their own
buildings. Plans and estimates for the buildings of the Calcutta and
Bhopal Institutes have been prepared aid construction is expected to
start in 1970. Meanwhile, the institutes are functioning temporarily
in the buildings of other technical institutions. During the year
under review, the institutes had 135 teachers sponsored by State
Governments and other institutions for the various training
programmes. 139 teachers completed their studies successfully.
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4.16. Practical Training of Graduate and Diploma-
holders:
The expanded programme of practical training for graduates
and diploma-holders was maintained during 1969-70. During the year,
about 11,000 training places were secured in industrial establishments
and technical organisations of the Union and State Governments.-
4.17. For the effective organisation and supervision of
practical training, Boards of Apprenticeship Training have been set up
for southern and eastern regions. The boards include representatives
of industry, technical institutions and the State Governments
concerned. Similar boards for northern and western regions are in the
process of being set up and are expected to start functioning in
April-May, 1970.
4.18. Postgraduate Courses and Research:
In addition to
the Institutes of Technology, postgraduate courses for the master's
degree in engineering have been instituted at over 30 selected centres
and provision has been made for the admission of about 2000 students
to these courses each year. The Board of Postgraduate Engineering
Studies has appointed four expert committees, one for each region, to
visit their respective centres of postgraduate courses, evaluate the
progress of the courses and recommend measures for their consolidation
and further improvement. The reports of the expert committees will be
considered by the Board and a comprehensive plan will be formulated
for upgrading and improving postgraduate courses at all these centres.
4.19. Fabrication of Equipment:
In the last ten years, our
scientific instruments industry has made considerable progress and our
technical institutions are becoming progressively independent of
imported equipment from abroad. Except for highly sophisticated
equipment and instruments required for advanced teaching and research
much of the equipment required for undergraduate teaching is now
available indigenously. To minimise further our dependence on imported
equipment the
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Institutes of Technology and other engineering institutions have
initiated a programme for the design and manufacture of scientific
instruments. They have designed and fabricated a wide range of
instruments and apparatuses that are useful for engineering courses.
Some of the institutions have also decided to set up regular design
and fabrication units. To coordinate the work of these institutions
and to establish a close tie-up between indigenous design and
commercial production, an expert committee has been appointed by the
All-India Council for Technical Education. The Committee will prepare
a long-range plan for developing this activity on an all-India basis.
It is also proposed to set up, at all the Institutes of Technology and
other centres engaged in this activity, museums of scientific
instruments, apparatuses and other teaching aids that are useful for
engineering colleges and polytechnics. Teachers from other
institutions will be invited to visit the museums and study the
exhibits.
4.20 Regional Engineering Colleges:
The 14 Regional
Engineering Colleges have nearly completed over 75 per cent of their
programme of constructing buildings, equipping laboratories and
workshops and recruiting staff. The remaining part of the programme
is in various stages of execution and expected to be completed by
1972-73. All the colleges are conducting the first degree courses in
civil, mechanical and electrical engineering. Some are also offering
courses in metallurgy, chemical engineering and electronics. Seven
Regional Colleges have introduced industrially-oriented postgraduate
courses in selected branches of engineering and technology in coopera-
tion with industry. These received assistance from UNDP, for a period
of five years ending December, 1969, in the form of equipment,
services of foreign experts and fellowships for the training of Indian
faculty abroad. On the recommendations of an Evaluation Mission, UNDP
has agreed to extend its programme of assistance for another two and a
half years from January 1970, to consolidate these postgraduate
courses and initiate new courses in other fields in cooperation with
industry.
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4.21. Financial Allocation:
The major financial alloca-
tions for technical education during 1969-70 and 1970-71 are given
below:
(Rs. in lakhs)
1 Indian Institutes of Technology 872.91 875.84 877.46
2 National Institute of Foundry & Forge Technology, Ranchi 20.00 19.17 45.00
3 National Institute for Training in Industrial Engineering, Bombay 8.75 10.51 16.05
4 Indian Institutes of Management 55.05 53.57 38.00
5 School of Planning & Architecture, New Delhi 16.84 16.84 17.55
6 Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad 29.56 28.79 27.21
7 Technical Teacher Training Insti- tutes for Polytechnic Teachers 49.90 37.20 61.07
8 Practical Training Stipends Scheme. 150.00 177.00 175.00
9 Postgraduate Courses and Research 50.00 45.00 80.00
10 Regional Engineering Colleges 343.00 290.64 299.00
11 Quality Improvement Programmes 37.10 32.30 73.00 12 Central Grants to Private Institutes 102.50 79.20 80.00
13 Loan for Construction of Hostels 140.50 120.50 152.29
14 Indian Institute of Science,Bangalore 112.00 119.54 113.00