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ENGINEERING EDUCATION FOR 21ST CENTURY IN INDIA PROF. K.V.S APPARAO ANDHRA UNIVERSITY, INDIA Abstract: India is one of the countries producing large number of scientists and engineers Engineering education in India is about a century old. Many Indian Engineers are occupying high positions in the World. Moreover, there is not much interaction between Indian Industries and Indian universities due to so many reasons. In view of liberalization policies of the various nations, the engineering needs are no longer. confined to a . particularly locality but should also cater to the needs of the entire World. This paper briefly reviews the present educational system in India and suggests suitable strategies for restructuring engineering education to suit the needs of the 21 ‘t century, taking into consideration local and global needs.

1. Technical education in India: India is a vast country with a population of 843.9 million (199 1 census) with literacy rate of 52.11 O/O. India is a nation having twenty five states and fifteen constitutionally recognized languages and different socio- economic structures, representing unity in diversity. Majority of the people live in rural areas (over 75°/0 of population). Caste system which is hereditary, is a peculiarity of the Indian society. The upper caste and urban elite still dominate all fields, including education. In spite of all the efforts by the Government, the disparity among the castes could not be wiped of successfully. The education system including technical education was developed during the colonial rule and it was to cater the needs of the British rulers. It is yet to be geared to the needs of the present socio- economic technical needs. The needs of the Indian industry and society are so varied and diverse the engineering curriculum cannot be designed completely by engineering institutions to suit their demands. The first in take in the engineering colleges/schools in the country is directly due to train technical managers for the newly established engineering industries-training school at Poona started in 1865, survey school in Siripoor engineering college, Calcutta started in 1880 and Victoria jubilee institute Roorkee started in 1857. IN 1947, there were only thirty eight institutions at the degree level and fifty three institutions at the diploma level with an annual intake of 2940 and 3670 students respectively. At present there are five hundred twelve engineering colleges and nine hundred thirty two polytechnics, turning out annually 70,915 graduates, 8000 post graduates and about 122,370 diploma holders. The Indian education is not terminal at any stage and Indians are often interested in reaching upto the dead end, than confining to a need based education.

2. Present Status: The major crisis in professional education in India is the poor quality on face of the best student input, and relatively high cost. The curriculum designer, teacher, administrator, student and industrialist point their fingers against each other. -- -. -. . -“ .$itii% 1996 ASEE Annual Confercnce Proceedings } ‘q.aImL:

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Apparao, P. K. (1996, June), Engineering Education For 21st Century In India Paper presented at 1996 Annual Conference, Washington, District of Columbia. 10.18260/1-2--6025