Urges policymakers to improve business incubation facilities for students

Governor P. Sathasivam has emphasised on the need to include lessons on entrepreneurship in the curricula of higher education programmes including engineering.

He was inaugurating Sankethapravesam – 2017, a one-day induction programme organised for first-year engineering students, organised jointly by the A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technological University (KTU) and the Kerala Startup Mission on Thursday Mr. Sathasivam also exhorted the policymakers to improve business incubation facilities for the benefit of students who came forward with innovative ideas. He held the view that the advancements in science and technology should not benefit the industry alone, but also the farmers, sanitation workers and other labourers whose toils were largely neglected.

“The society is investing its resources in you (the students) with a hope that education will empower you to work for far-reaching changes in the society. Aided by the advancements of the modern world, students are part of a global village and are obliged to work for the progress of mankind,” he said. Mr. Sathasivam expressed optimism in the potential of the Kerala Startup Mission which, according to him, would help improve employability. “A recent survey had found that around 80% of a sample of 1.5 lakh engineering graduates were unsuited for employment. This called for urgent steps to address the situation,” he said. Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan urged the budding engineers to work for the welfare of the society and to make utmost use of the existing technical expertise in the State. Referring to the ongoing trend of brain drain, he said that the government is committed towards generating employment opportunities in the State.

All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) chairman Anil D. Sahasrabuddhe said that efforts were on to introduce induction programmes for both the faculty and students. Students would be required to undergo the residential programme that will last for three weeks during which they will be provided a glimpse of problems that faced the country and the roles that budding engineers could play in addressing them.

Hardware Hackathon

Besides taking forward the ‘Smart India Hackathon’, considered to be one of the biggest digital product development hackathon, the AICTE will launch a ‘Hardware Hackathon’ this year, Dr. Sahasrabuddhe added.

Education Minister C. Ravindranath, DMRC Principal Advisor E. Sreedharan, IT Secretary M. Sivasankar and KTU Vice Chancellor Kuncheria P. Isaac also spoke on the occasion.