Learning from the Germans

G Krishna Kumar, Vasishta Haavanur | Updated: Nov 18 2013, 12:06 IST

Summary
India will do too well to adopt a skill development-based education system like the one Germany follows

The Union HRD minister recently stated that India has the potential to become the worldwide hub for sourcing skilled labour, apart from meeting the country’s demand. While this is indeed possible, India faces significant challenges around skill development and employability. The recent article “India’s skill will conundrum” (goo.gl/15k0lh) in a leading newspaper provides some insights on the challenges in India’s skill development.

It is well known that India is set to become the youngest country by 2020 with an average age of 29 years. Empirical data suggests that the presence of large percentage of working-age labour force, also called India’s “demographic dividend”, would greatly stimulate economy and growth. It is time to look afresh at the broad education framework in the country and imbibe some of the best-in-class education systems in the world to improve skills and employability in the country.

In this backdrop, how about learning from Germany? Germany has the best employment-oriented education system in the world through its Duales Ausbildungssystem or the dual system of vocational education and training (DSVET).

Global adoption of DSVET
The DSVET, pioneered by Germany allows youth to pursue over 350 apprenticeship occupations like assistants to doctors or assistant in a legal firm or specific jobs in manufacturing industries. It provides skills to the youth without a degree, thereby providing them a great opportunity to enter the labour market.
Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research states that 66% of the school students enter the dual system and the entire program is mostly financed by the German companies. The course combines practical apprenticeships in a company and theoretical vocational education at a school. The duration of the theory and practical aspects vary from a few days to months. This system allows the student to be a quasi-employee of the company from the beginning, and based on individual interest and performance, a student could find full time employment.
The European Commission states that work-based learning, such as dual approaches, should be a central pillar of vocational education with the aim of reducing youth unemployment. The time-tested DSVET has been replicated in many European countries like France with positive results. Many of the countries affected by the European crisis are looking at the DSVET for improving employability. Interestingly, while countries like Greece and Spain have over-50% unemployment rates, Germany has managed to keep it at less than 8%. Although many experts attribute the low unemployment rate in Germany to its strong economy and more aged population, DSVET certainly has certainly contributed to better employability in the country.
A news report suggests that China has recently started DSVET and the results are encouraging. It is quite astonishing that some form of DSVET system has been in India since the early 1990s! The Indo-German Training Center (IGTC), which is part of the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce, is credited with bringing the system to India. Isn’t it unfortunate then that only around 100 students pass out of this system every year?

Challenges in replicating DSVET
It is quite intriguing that despite considerable effort from Germany in propagating the DSVET in other countries, the model has been successful only in a few countries. Why? Adopting the dual system involves more than mere duplication. Existing skill development framework needs to be overlapped with DSVET by considering the country’s educational, social and economic objectives. Besides, industry-academia relationship is crucial for a successful DSVET system. In addition, the government’s willingness and the availability of mass-employment generating industry are extremely important.

What needs to be done in India
India needs a three-pronged strategy to adapt the VET system. First, a strong career counselling system should be developed at the secondary school level. In Germany, segregation of children based on their abilities is carried out in the 6th grade. It is certainly debatable if a kid’s future should be decided at the age of 11 or 12 years. In India, we need schools to monitor and provide career counselling to the students when they are in 10th standard. This would help identify students who can pursue regular higher education and the ones who should take the DSVET route.
Second, we need to develop a system that will encourage industry bodies to own the DSVET initiative, including the decision on the syllabus for theory and practical training. Maybe, the mandatory CSR contribution from companies can be used effectively this way. Further, the HRD ministry and the All India Council for Technical Education could collaborate with the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce and come up with an implementation plan along with the leading industry bodies in the country. Perhaps such an exercise will help in strengthening the government’s initiatives like the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), the National Vocational Education Qualifications Framework (NVEQF). As a pilot, the DSVET initiative could taken up in a highly industrialised state like Tamil Nadu or Maharashtra and a state with a low level of industrialisation like Bihar or Odisha.
Third, with the advancement in ICT, students could attend theory classes using the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) platform that provides a classroom-like environment. Perhaps companies associated with the DSVET program could provide tablets to the students to make use of the MOOC platform.
Summing up, India has a great opportunity to utilise the demographic dividend and improve skills, thus providing employment opportunities to the youth. However, for capitalising this opportunity, India should look at strengthening the existing education and training system and perhaps time to learn from the Germans. Can we see an Indianised DSVET soon?

G Krishna Kumar & Vasishta Haavanur

The authors are Bangalore-based IT professionals. Views are personal
 

India's Skill Will Conundrum

By G Krishna Kumar

 

Published: 01st October 2013 07:25 AM

Sample this: 50 per cent of India’s population is below 24 years of age. India is set to become the youngest country by 2020 with an average age of 29, while all major global economies are between 37-48. India is expected to add 200 million in the working-age group of 15-64 years between 2015 and 2050.
Reports suggest that the presence of large percentage of working-age labour force, also called “demographic dividend”, could greatly stimulate growth and prosperity. How can India capitalise on the demographic dividend over the next three decades? That India needs a strong focus on skill enhancement is given. The government should take a holistic view of workforce demand-supply and support growth in existing/new industries for sustainable economic development.
In addition to the government’s role, willingness from business/industry and the people (the Gen Next) are critical in improving the talent pool and thus employability in the country.
It is extremely important that the government provides the right framework to improve education, right from the primary level. In spite of many government programmes like Sarva Siksha Abhiyan, RTE and others, only 18.8% of the population are qualified above secondary level and in the rural areas, it is only 14.7%.
The enrolment rate in primary school is an encouraging 96%, but the dropout rate is rather high. A recent news report states that 80 million children drop out without completing basic schooling in India. Even worse, the dropout rate after the 10th standard is over 57%. The major reasons for the high dropout rates in primary or higher level include financial crunch at home, lack of quality teachers and infrastructure, distance between home and school, among others. Can the government enforce families receiving food security benefits to compulsorily enrol children in schools and thus reduce dropout rates?
The quality of students is a concern, their inability to solve even basic arithmetic problems especially. Children in India are subjected to rote learning. The ones in the 5-10 age group may seem smarter than their counterparts in other nations. But, when we consider those in the 15-16 bracket, the picture differs. For instance, India ranks among the last in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The poor showing is attributed to lack of application-oriented learning.
Can the government water down the over-whelming syllabus, modify it to encourage critical thinking and enable quality learning?
An ASER report suggests private schools are attracting more children in rural areas. Perhaps the government should create a framework and hand over some of the badly managed public schools to private institutions, with the right set of checks and balances should be in place.
Advancements in information and communications technology (ICT) can provide a possible “intervention” solution for improving quality of education including “teaching the teachers” through internet connectivity. Such programmes would also help strengthen concepts among students. The latest UN report says India is lagging behind in broadband penetration. The National Telecom Policy 2012’s vision of “right to broadband” is a step in the right direction. But, relevant localised content is still largely missing.
Although over 2 crore students are enrolled in high schools, there are only five or six options for pursuing an organised career growth. While a few options are oversold, awareness is lacking among the rest. Emotional quotient/intelligence quotient should be assessed for each student in 10th standard, followed up with counselling.
Despite the dropout rate, India manages to bring out lakhs of graduates/diploma and industrial training institute (ITI) degree holders. But, there are serious issues regarding employability as most graduates are unskilled or semi-skilled and lack soft skills. The government’s initiatives like the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), national vocational education qualifications framework (NVEQF) are steps in the right direction. However, for this effort to be successful and sustainable, industry should own the skill enhancement/intervention programmes. Can the new companies bill mandating corporate social responsibility (CSR) be used effectively?
CSR initiatives must be result-oriented and measurable. Perhaps, the major industry bodies in India should take the lead in driving a model and mandate companies to work closely with NSDC, NVEQF, along with universities to encourage innovation, help improve skill levels and address employability challenges. In fact, depending on demand, some vocational courses could be converted into full-fledged ITI/diploma courses. Globally, there are several examples of strong industry-academia relationship resulting in mutual benefits. India needs to replicate it.
There are companies in India supporting skill enhancements in entrepreneurship and technology. But a system for experience sharing and bringing industries together is much needed. Most companies in India would have an in-depth understanding of human resource aspects like communication and co-working skills, career progression, assessments, counselling and mentoring. As part of CSR, can these be leveraged effectively to create intervention programmes and support students in colleges/universities?
Even if we assume the government and industry have taken the right steps to improve the quality of education and skill levels, it is critical that individuals have the willingness/desire to learn. Unlike earlier, the ICT era has ensured “anytime” information, thus learning is only limited by the individual’s interest. Also, the Internet-based massive open online course platform offers unprecedented choices.
With the new-age material aspirations driving youth, as in advanced countries, we could soon face challenges of “over-entertained” youth lacking social skills and work ethics. A strong social support system including a personal mentor is much needed to help the youth prioritise and remain focused. To benefit from the demographic dividend, the government should come up with an ICT based long-term plan for addressing the skill requirements by involving key stakeholders. The combined “will” of the government, industry and individual is needed for Gen Next.
The author is vice-president at Symphony Teleca.
Email: krishnak1@outlook.com

Karnataka records lowest mobile internet users

Tuesday, Sep 24, 2013, 13:03 IST | Place: Bangalore | Agency: DNA

Suparna Goswami Bhattacharya

Only 9.3% of users in the country are from Karnataka

Karnataka has the lowest mobile internet penetration in the country. According to data compiled by various reports by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, Karnataka has 9.3% mobile internet users in the country, which records the lowest percentage in India. At 33.67%, Maharashtra has the maximum number of mobile internet users, while Jammu and Kashmir stands second at 26.53%.
Surprisingly, when it comes to broadband subscribers, the state is among the top four in the country. Also, India’s mobile internet boom has begun with growth in the sale of smartphones. Though smartphone users have increased over 50% in the last year, the total smartphone users as a percentage of total subscribers is only 6-7%. For Karnataka, the figure stands at 2%.
Service providers, however, see a huge opportunity in Karnataka, since people here have always been more open to new technology.
“Our customers are largely the youth or upwardly mobile working professionals. In Karnataka, we see a 20% penetration or adoption of mobile internet services. With 3G services now available at 2G price, we look forward to a robust opportunity and growth providing better browsing experience,” says Rohit Tandon, MBU head – Karnataka Circle, Tata DOCOMO.
According to G Krishna Kumar, vice-president at the Bangalore Symphony Teleca, who also tracks the mobile sector in India closely, service providers need to be more active in spreading awareness among consumers in state.
“People in Bangalore and Mysore might actively use mobiles for internet surfing. However, the same might not be true for districts like Hubli and Dharwad. Hence, service providers need to increase awareness of mobile internet in these areas. The true impact of the technology on the society can be realised only if we have localised content that can help in improving education level,” says Kumar.
Also, some feel tablets are used more for internet use than mobiles. According to Rohit Malhotra, chief executive officer, Bharti Airtel, Karnataka Circle, there are around 10,000 tablets and 1.8 lakh smartphones that are sold in Karnataka.
“The overall tablet user base in the state is 1.5 lakh, which has grown by 150% in the last six months, and the overall smart phone user base is 4.5 million in the state that has grown by 35% in the last six months,” says Malhotra.

Realising India’s broadband dream

Financial Express, 24th Sep 2013, Edit & Column

SummaryAlthough uptake of mobile internet usage is encouraging, wire-line, wireless services must.

As per the 2013 edition of the State of Broadband report released recently, there are now more than 70 countries where over 50% of the population is online. The report emphasises that broadband internet has become a key tool for social and economic development, and points out an important caveat that 90% of the people in the world’s 49 least developed countries remain totally unconnected.
The Indian government set itself a target of 160 million broadband users by the year 2017 and 600 million by 2020. A quick look at the recent performance indicators published by Trai indicates the following: wire-line broadband subscription stands at a paltry 15 million with a maximum in Maharashtra at about 2.5 million; of these 15 million, 85% are provided through the digital subscriber loop (DSL) technology deployed by the fixed line service providers; wireless internet subscriptions has reached an astonishingly high number of 143 million with a maximum of about 14 million in UP. What is interesting is that while the top 10 states in wire-line broadband subscription accounted for about 80% of the total wire-line broadband in the country, the same set accounts for only 65% of mobile internet subscriptions. The above statistics indicate that mobile internet access is a possible substitute for wire-line broadband service. Going by the existing definition of 256 Kbps downlink speed, most of the mobile internet subscribers that use 3G services might qualify to be broadband subscribers. So, we seem to have almost reached the target set for next year, now itself!
What is the problem then?
Though NTP 2012 has a clause for the grand revision of the definition of broadband from 256 Kbps to 512 Kbps to 2 Mbps by 2015 and thereafter to 100 Mbps, the mobile internet access still crawls. Though Trai is yet to come up with detailed metrics for measurement of quality of service for data and internet services over mobile, the response time and call disconnects do not make it worth browsing content-heavy websites on our mobiles—unless of course we do not have a wire-line broadband service at home, which seems to be the case especially for those who live in suburban areas and less dense locations.
On the other hand, countries are marching ahead with improving broadband penetration levels, which research indicates has a positive correlation with economic development. While most of the European countries have mandated 100 Mbps broadband connections to homes, companies such as Google are experimenting with providing fibre-to-home with a speed of 1 Gbps in the US!
Amongst the OECD countries, Japan and Korea lead the pack with over 60% of the wire-line broadband deployed over optic fibre cables. However, despite opening up basic telecom services with no cap on the number of operators, the wire-line connectivity has not picked up in our country.
Is there any solution in sight?

Options for improving broadband penetration
First is the unbundling of the local loop by the incumbents about which Trai released its recommendations way back in April 2004 that will allow internet service providers and cable companies to lease the last mile/bandwidth of the incumbents to provide broadband access. Though unbundling has been touted as unsuccessful until recently, the regulators are using this policy to improve competition in an otherwise natural monopolistic market. Between 2005 and 2013, the number of unbundled lines in the UK has multiplied 70 times to about 9 million copper lines offering more than 24 Mbps. The competition in wire-line broadband has significantly increased leading to drop in prices by about 50% during this period.
With more than 90% of the 35-million-odd fixed lines being owned by the government operators (BSNL and MTNL), it is time that the government mandates unbundling to unlock value of these assets much like the above example to improve broadband penetration in the country.
Second, given the fragmented and minimal spectrum allocations to mobile operators, we can only dream of good broadband connectivity on our mobiles. Hence, release of more spectrum suitable for 3G and higher technologies is warranted. The recent policy reforms including making spectrum technology and service neutral is a welcome step encouraging the mobile operators to deploy wireless broadband technologies. However, the excessive fragmentation of spectrum and non-contiguous allocation prevents efficient implementation of broadband technologies and services. The average spectrum holding across bands per operator per service area in India stands at a paltry 2×10 MHz that is too little for effective broadband deployment with adequate quality of service. The government would do well by releasing more spectrum especially in the globally harmonised band of 2.1 GHz for 3G-based broadband services and assign contiguous spectrum for the refarmed 900 MHz spectrum in the upcoming auction.
Third is the innovative use of 4G spectrum and associated technologies such as long term evolution (LTE) by the operators. One option is to provide services similar to “MiFi” being offered by the operators in the UK and the US, where wireless long haul is provided typically through 4G-LTE network connection instead of the DSL landline. Thus, the MiFi routers are portable and flexible and can connect multiple Wi-Fi enabled devices such as smartphones, tablets and laptops. When enabled in public transport such as buses and trains, such MiFi routers provide the occupants with local Wi-Fi access, connecting them through the wireless backhaul to the internet. Applications such as the above require low frequency, better propagation spectrum in the 700 MHz range. This spectrum needs to be refarmed from the existing broadcast entities such as Doordarshan for mobile services as soon as possible as per Trai 2012 recommendations, so that quality broadband becomes a reality in our country.
To sum up, although the current uptake in mobile internet usage is encouraging, we need a much stronger push in both wire-line and wireless services as described above for India to realise its broadband dream.

V Sridhar is research fellow at Sasken Communication Technologies. G Krishna Kumar is vice-president at Symphony Teleca. Views are personal
 

Indifference is our way of patriotism

Published on Thursday, 22 August 2013 16:25 Daily Post, Editorial page
G krishna kumar
What is the opposite of ‘love’? The most straight forward answer is ‘hate’, but ‘indifference’ is an equally correct answer. We (Indians) provide a good example of ‘Indifference’ when it comes to patriotism. Gone are the days when it was mandatory for school children to participate in the Independence day celebrations. Not that the children understood the speeches, but the enthusiasm was palpable. Doordarshan would have grabbed the highest TRP considering people’s interest in watching the Independence Day parade. Now, Independence Day means shopping time with heavy discounts in Malls and retail outlets. Patriotic fervour is limited to hawkers selling plastic flags at traffic signals.

I always wonder why Indians are desperate to live or work abroad even though the standard of living has changed significantly over the past few years. Most embassies in India are crowded as though people are seeking asylum. A cover story in a leading magazine reveals how people spend lakhs of rupees to try to illegally migrate to America. We don’t care about racism, Indians are the number one permanent migrants in many countries. It doesn’t matter if more countries consider us as ‘risky’ and impose bond amount for Visa, we simply are obsessed to live abroad. Even today parents are proudest if their children are abroad. Why are we not as patriotic or proud as Japanese?

We have to shamefully agree that majority of the people including the literate populace in our country do not understand the meaning of our National Anthem. This is indeed unique to India. Perhaps we are in this state due to lack of emphasis on basic aspects of nationalism in the education system. Instead of politics dictating the curriculum, can we inculcate true nationalistic spirit among the children? Can we make it mandatory for every student above 5th standard to understand the meaning and thereby learn to respect the national Anthem?

Military personnel are undoubtedly most patriotic. Can we learn from them? How about implementing mandatory military service for say six months? This will certainly improve respect for the country and make youth far more disciplined. Considering the population it may be a tough ask to implement this. But, can we at least provide an opportunity for every student to interact with military personnel be it Army, Navy or Air Force to understand and appreciate how the armed forces are ensuring a safe India? Such inspiring touch-time programmes may also motivate students to join military service.

Lessons learnt, time to act

G. Krishna Kumar

Hindu Business Line , Opinion/Perspective
(This article was published on August 10 2013)

Our disaster preparedness is woefully inadequate.

It is unfortunate that Uttarakhand had to face landslides and flash floods yet again this week, hampering relief operations. Experts estimate that it will take between 3 to 10 years for the State to get back to “business as usual”. In many cases, when business leaves it may never return.

This crisis provides a major learning. While we can blame the government and officials for not enforcing regulations, people should equally share the responsibility.

We are unprepared

Post the Tsunami in 2004, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) was formed, but has grossly failed both in planning and implementation. NDMA and its subsidiary organisations need a major shake-up. We should get away from the NDMA versus State blame game and fix accountability.

The NDMA provides an online inventory of resources such as life-saving boats, critical medical supplies and other resources needed for disaster response in all the districts across the country. Even if we assume the data to be accurate, the meagre resources available are inadequate to handle even a minor calamity. Rudraprayag had 12 life-jackets.

Only one trauma specialist has been identified for the whole of Bangalore Urban and Rural. In Shimoga district of Karnataka, there are no doctors or paramedics identified. Considering India’s vulnerability, it is frustrating that there is no system for predicting cloud-bursts. As a first step, India needs top class weather forecasting systems. More awareness should be created among the public. Considering the mobile phone penetration in the country, a robust disaster alert and early warning system similar to the one in Japan must be implemented.

Learn from Japan

While natural calamities and rescue operations are covered extensively by the media, the same is not true for post-disaster recovery. Research reports on post-recovery challenges cite many examples where recovery led to further risk of disaster. Are there lessons learnt from the 2004 tsunami rebuilding?Maybe we should look at countries like Japan. Within 10 weeks of a major earthquake in Kobe, electricity and water connections were completely restored; infrastructure was rebuilt in two years.

In the case of Uttarakhand, will the environmental negligence continue? Will buildings and hotels continue to be rebuilt along the river or will good sense prevail? Many case studies point out that a healthy community once re-established will sustain itself over time.

Wake up

The UN’s HYOGO Framework for action (HFA) review report states that following disasters, the public puts greater pressure on administration, resulting in improved governance and accountability. The rebuilding efforts must take the environmental aspects into consideration; the participation of local communities is crucial. The Uttarakhand tragedy should serve as a wake-up call.

(The author is an engineering professional based in Bangalore. Views are personal.)

(This article was published on August 9, 2013)

Bangalore is swalpa kahi, jasthi sihi

G Krishna Kumar

The New Indian Express, 29th July 2013, Bangalore Edition

I consider myself extremely fortunate to be living in this city since birth. And it’s not just locals, but also people who move here from elsewhere, who fall in love with this city so much that Bangalore becomes their ‘home’ city for the rest of their lives.
Over the past few decades, I have seen this tranquil city transform into a cosmopolitan, yet slightly lazy city. We can attribute the laziness to the climate we enjoy.
I am not sure if any one with great foresight could have predicted such hyper growth. Bangalore is soon going to be in the 10 million population club. Isn’t it amazing that this city, home to about half a dozen public sector companies just three decades ago, has rapidly grown in many sectors providing job opportunities to so many people in diverse areas? It is overwhelming to see Bangalore continue to be the number one IT city in the country, despite all the infrastructural woes.
Bangalore is certainly a foodie’s paradise, especially if vegetarian. From darshinis, “western” looking vegetarian restaurants to the traditional city restaurants, Bangalore offers such wonderful variety of food that is hygienic and largely affordable. I am sure people who have travelled outside Bangalore, even to other states, would appreciate the food options in namma city.
Notwithstanding the recent garbage crisis, I have found Bangalore to be much cleaner compared to other metros in the country. Of course, we cannot compare Bangalore with Singapore. Yet, there is absolutely no doubt that BMTC (earlier BTS) buses are by far the cleanest in the country.
While most people complain about the traffic and pollution, I think these are unintended consequences of the growth we have witnessed. We are not Shanghai to impose restriction on people migrating into our city. Neither can we have any restriction on addition of new vehicles. Even the most organised city in the world has traffic woes. So, I think it is tad unfair to constantly complain about our traffic problems. I think we should live with this.
If I compare attitudes towards compliance with traffic rules in Bangalore with other cities in India, I can confidently say we are the best. But the big question is if this is good enough. Although the traffic police is doing a great job, we Bangaloreans should learn to be patient and be considerate to fellow motorists especially during traffic jams.
I hate to see two-wheelers using the footpath during traffic jams causing trouble to pedestrians and creating more traffic chaos.
While I find Bangalore a very peaceful place, it is rather unfortunate to see violence every time the news of a popular film star’s death is announced. This is very disturbing and maybe the police should be better prepared in handling such incidents going forward.
Bangalore is undoubtedly a great city. Of course, there are a few things needing improvement, but that’s fine. For me Bangalore is swalpa kahi, jaasthi sihi.
 

India's sub-standard engineering colleges

G. Krishna Kumar

Hindu Business Line, Editorial Page, June 10th

Engineering education remains IT-focussed and needs a broader framework with industry participation.

The world’s top 50 universities in engineering and technology in 2013 do not include any Indian university/college. The Higher Education World Reputation Ranking 2013 of top 100 institutions, has representation from all the BRIC countries, except India. We can conveniently blame it on bias, or simply ignore the global ranking. While the Government-run institutions have their share of challenges, the private institutes/universities, perceived to be a ray of hope, appear to be less interested in improving quality.

Employability, a challenge

Now, let us juxtapose the lack of quality institutions with another dimension — un-employability. There are over 2,500 engineering colleges in the country, producing over 7 lakh graduates every year. Notwithstanding the unpredictability, the IT Industry has remained the largest job provider over the past 15-20 years, absorbing about 10-15 per cent of the graduates. Hiring by public sector and non-IT private companies, and students pursuing higher education constitute 25-30 per cent. But, that still leaves a significantly large pool of engineering graduates without a proper job. The Industry Readiness Index 2013 survey by PurpleLeap, a company that provides skill bridging support for students pursuing engineering courses, indicates that only 10 per cent of the engineers passing out of colleges from Tier 2/3 cities in the country are employable. Even with the intervention programmes, the students struggle, primarily due to poor communication and/or analytical/problem-solving skills. Even worse, another report states that 30 per cent of the engineers do not have basic quantitative skills required for day-to-day life and entry-level engineering jobs.

India lags way behind China in terms of university research in engineering and technology. China, for example, has three times more enrolment for master’s programmes in engineering and management. India produces 1,000 PhDs annually in technology and engineering, compared to 8,000-9,000 in the US and China. It has to be noted that US and China have large well-funded universities that encourage higher education. The 2011 Kakodkar report emphasises the need for rapid improvement in research infrastructure in India, including the IITs.

So, what needs to be done to improve the situation? It is evident that active involvement and collaboration between government, engineering colleges/universities and industry is vital for improving the quality of engineers.

To fill up the vacant seats in private engineering colleges, the cut-off score for students seeking admission is being considerably watered-down. Added to this, many private colleges lack the intellectual infrastructure — comprising libraries, broadband connectivity for accessing knowledge resources on the Internet and, most importantly, qualified and knowledgeable faculty. Strict regulatory mechanisms should be implemented to ensure that only institutions with proper infrastructure are allowed to function.

Strict regulations

Simple things like monitoring the output from internship/project work should be strengthened. Strict measures are need for removing the rampant “paid” project work culture that is in vogue. It is appalling to see students get away by outsourcing their work.

The next most important step is to provide a clear road-map for the students with an inclination for research to pursue their interest. This would help in retaining the research-seeking graduates from going abroad. The effectiveness of government-funded schemes to promote research among engineering students through the Modernisation and Removal of Obsolescence (MODROBS) and the Research Promotion Scheme (RPS) is still unclear.

We need an environment that fosters active partnerships between industry and colleges/universities. In the advanced countries, research work is given high priority among the engineering colleges/universities. The teachers can lead by example and inspire students to pursue research and innovation.

The duration of the engineering course can perhaps be increased by six months or a year. This can help accomodate a sandwich/apprentice programme, which can provide hands-on work experience. For example, today, students get selected for project work/in-plant training through personal contact.

A transparent platform for monitoring and evaluating apprentice programmes should be created by involving industry — including private and public sector, and the universities. The Government’s latest initiative towards skill improvement through the National Vocational Educational Qualification Framework (NVEQF) is certainly a good step. However, it may be worthwhile strengthening the existing well-funded National Skill Development Corporation, than creating new initiatives.

Look beyond IT

Although Nasscom predicts significant requirements in the IT industry over the next decade, it is vital that the Government looks at supporting altervative sectors and creating an efficient platform to manage the demand and supply of engineering graduates.

Reports indicate that manufacturing sector would grow significantly by 2025, fuelled primarily by the emerging economies. This could be an opportunity for India to take on China and emerge as a dominant player in, say, energy or semiconductor sector.

Why can’t government policies and best practices that helped in rapid growth of the IT industry be replicated in strengthening other sectors? AICTE/universities should upgrade the syllabus to be attuned with industry needs, especially in some of the core areas such as electrical and mechanical engineering.

It is, thus, imperative for the engineering education to grow beyond IT industry. A strong push is needed for strengthening industry-academia interaction in all the major sectors/streams. This would certainly spur innovation/research and help in improving employability among our next-gen engineers!

(The author is Vice-President, Symphony Teleca. The views are personal.)

(This article was published on June 10, 2013)

Don't let Doordarshan die

Hindu Business Line, Opinion Page 18th Feb 2013

G Krishna Kumar

Doordarshan may be a white elephant, but can be turned around on the lines of the BBC.

From just one channel, to over 700 channels, the Indian TV industry has come a long way. With 150 million households having TVs, India is the third largest market in the world after China and the US. During this unprecedented growth, Doordarshan has dramatically lost viewership, thanks to the satellite TV boom.

Although Doordarshan has achieved over 90 per cent reach in the country, it is not the preferred channel for people across the country who have a choice of channels. The story of AIR is no different. Private radio channels have been able to attract listeners quite effortlessly.

Such a phenomenon is not limited to DD/AIR. If we look at other fields that have witnessed private participation after Government monopoly, Government organisations like BSNL or Indian Airlines have miserably failed to retain their customer base, due to their lackadaisical attitude. It is a matter of survival for the private players, and hence they are competitive.

The recent news that Information and Broadcasting Minister has set up a committee under Sam Pitroda to suggest improvements in Prasar Bharati (which controls Doordarshan and AIR) is good to hear.

But recommendations of various committees in the past have yielded no result. What will change now? Can DD embrace the much-talked-about BBC model?

BBC Model

Globally, there are over 30 public service broadcasters (PSB), and most of them have built trust value with the public. The most popular PSB is undoubtedly BBC. In fact, UK is credited with pioneering the “arm’s length” relationship between the State and the public broadcaster. The BBC is autonomous and enjoys sufficient independence, preventing political or bureaucratic interference to a large extent. No wonder, BBC News has been the most trusted news source in the UK and across the globe.

Every TV owner in UK pays an annual licence fee. (This is much like the radio licence fee that existed in India long back). This fee is the main source of income for BBC as a PSB. In other parts of the world, PSBs are funded through a mix of licence fees, Government grants and advertisements.

BBC has managed to always stay ahead of competition through technology leadership. The latest financial report shows that over 70 per cent of the licence fee was spent directly on programmes, or the property and technology infrastructure to support their production.

BBC strives to deliver “value-for-money” to its audience through distinctive, high quality programmes. BBC’s PSB supports multiple national and regional TV channels/radio stations and an extensive website. BBC’s ability to provide innovative and distinctive content helps attract audience across age groups. For example CBBC and CBeebies, the flagship children’s channels are extremely popular even outside the UK. In addition to the public broadcasting channel, BBC has other channels that have different revenue streams.

Quality content

With this background, it looks like an overwhelming task to get DD anywhere close to BBC. However, with the right structural reforms which can reduce Government interference, there certainly is still hope.

It is shocking that DD has not learnt from other global PSBs who have managed to stay competitive in the presence of private players.

It is evident that DD lacks in-depth understanding of the changing market dynamics. This is the age of infotainment where information and entertainment are seamlessly integrated to attract audiences.

DD must focus on building trust with the people. It is not an easy task and may take several years. This would include some serious and sustained effort in creating high quality content that can connect with the public. This, coupled with strong marketing effort, is urgently needed. In addition, it is imperative that the DD re-skills existing employees and/or acquires the right talent.

Production quality must be improved with investment in infrastructure and technology. Why can’t DD tie-up with the best production houses in the country? Can DD champion mobile TV in India? DD’s presence in Internet and social media is absolutely miserable. But without good quality content, social media will be of limited use.

PSBs like DD have to fulfil social responsibilities, including strengthening national identity and culture.

DD conveniently ignores any comparison with private players due to the PSB tag. People look for entertainment value and the name of broadcaster hardly matters. Right now, even private channels are struggling to differentiate themselves from each other.

Can DD come up with a fresh idea by leveraging its exclusive access in Government offices and unmatched rich archives? DD can make a huge impact in the education segment. Although the idea behind UGC’s education programmes must be lauded, it failed to resonate among students due to below-par implementation.

Perhaps, DD could join hands with private players and provide creative programmes around education, career counselling, skill enhancements or language classes. How about coaching classes for IIT JEE or infotainment programmes for the agriculture sector? Regular audience feedback on the lines of BBC’s Appreciation Index (AI) score is absolutely essential.

Create alternate PSB

Reports suggest that the government spends close to Rs. 1,800 crore annually on Doordarshan, but DD’s revenue is about Rs 1,000 crore.

Where is the accountability? As long as Government funds DD, there is hardly any motivation for DD to be competitive or profitable.

The Government should gradually reduce funding and ask DD to come up with innovate ways of revenue generation.

Should the Government start charging a licence fee from TV owners? That’s the easy option. But why should public pay for mediocre content? Instead, Can DD should start a commercial channel that can compete with private players?

This should, in turn, fund public service broadcasting. Can DD become a navratna company by 2020? The other option is to create competition to DD by allowing another PSB in India. Some aggressive targets are needed for reviving this white elephant.

DD has a long way to go before it can emulate the BBC model. While we wait for Sam Pitroda committee’s recommendation with interest, the Government’s willingness to implement the recommendations will be the key. For a change, let’s hope the Government will surprise us with action.

(The author is Vice-President at Symphony Teleca. The views are personal.)