IITs introduce soft skill enhancement programmes for students
The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are full of students who can solve a mathematics or physics problem within minutes. But students studying at these premier educational institutions come from different family backgrounds and can do with a little grooming so as to be better positioned in the outside world.
The job market is extremely competitive and these days in order to clench that perfect job, not only do you need to possess the necessary skill-set but also have good communication skills and positive body language. Elaborating on the same, Director of IIT Madras, Prof Bhaskar Ramamurthi said, “In today’s job market, students need to have skills in addition to technical skills in order to find and succeed in a job”. Taking immediate stock of the situation most of the IITs are now giving students an option to spruce up their soft skills by offering them short duration courses.
Why are soft skill enhancement courses needed?
Students from different socio-economic strata take admission at the IITs and it is up to the colleges to bring them up-to-the-mark, so that they can achieve new heights in the world. Sources share that IIT curriculum is theoretical in nature and so students at these engineering colleges need hands-on training which in the long run will boost their employability.
To ensure that students give in their best during placement season, IITs are now offering soft skill enhancement programmes to students. However, it is not mandatory that all such programmes are offered in-house. IITs are hiring trainers from the corporate world and business schools to offer effective courses to help students with professional communication, resume writing, body language as well as offering crash courses on Android app development. Some IITs are also offering English lessons by the British Council.
Santanu Paul, IIT Madras alumni shared that the industry skills are changing, and placements are getting more competitive and that is the reason why new IITs want to put their best foot forward from day one. He further added, “If an employer hires lesser students this year, the college is not going to wait till next year for course correction. It will start implementing skill programmes now."
Fee & duration
Prof Ramamurthi shared that these soft skill enhancement programmes are offered for a minimum duration of 30 hours and classes for these are mostly spread over weekends.
Since, most of these programmes are offered by outside bodies, as per IIT Madras’s Prof Ramamurthi a fee of Rs 1,200 is charged by the organisations providing the training.
When are soft-skill courses offered?
Most IITs offer such skill enhancement programmes to students who have to appear for placements. Confirming the same, Prof Ramamurthi shared that even at IIT Madras such programmes are offered to “interested final year students”.
Soft Skill Programmes offered by IITs
IIT Hyderabad
This engineering college is working on a pilot project wherein 1,500 students will be trained in speaking, reading as well as writing skills. For this, IIT Hyderabad has tied up with TalentSprint, an IT skill development firm which would conduct computer aided tests for the college’s BTech, MTech as well as PhD students. The skill enhancement programmes would be of 36 hour duration and will train students on how to have the perfect body language, how to better their professional communication along with training them on how to paraphrase and articulate thoughts.
IIT Kanpur
In order to work on the soft skill of its students, IIT Kanpur will get organisations on board to help its students with aptitude and technical tests. IIT Kanpur has also tied up with British Council to conduct English tests which will focus on conversation skills as well as written and spoken fluency of students. The college is also in talks of setting up a Career Development Center (CDC) from the current academic session onwards which will help students take informed decisions regarding job opportunities.
IIT Madras
The college feels that soft skill training is a means to prepare students for interviews that they have to go through during placements. The syllabus for the soft skills enhancement at IIT Madras is designed by students keeping in mind today’s trends. The programmes offered revolve around communication, team work, presentation skills, resume building, personal interviews, group discussions etc.
IIT Guwahati
The college is in talks with business schools as well as coding platform providers who can conduct mock tests. IIT Guwahati officials share that they plan to conduct soft skills enhancement workshops which as per them will instill confidence in their students.
IIT Kharagpur
Subhendu Panigrahi, an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur has set up a skill building company called Venturesity which will be offering year long workshop at the college. As part of these workshops, students will be taught online as well as on-campus courses on Android app development, Python (a coding language) and analytics with Rprogramming.