Brand CMAT to be India’s global ambassador: Mantha
Dr S S Mantha
There’s a lot on AICTE’s plate. And Chairman SS Mantha is busy sorting it out. Speaking in an exclusive interview to shiksha.com correspondent Ipsita Sarkar Gupta, Dr Mantha lays bare his plans and views.
Q. SC has declared AICTE as an advisory body, bringing management courses out of its purview. What do you have to say about it?
There’s nothing to say. We have filed for a review. Will wait for the outcome.
Q. Is it true that CMAT exam will also be conducted abroad?
Yes. Our purpose is to encourage people to use CMAT as a global gateway to come to India. Most colleges have extra capacity. Through CMAT, entry can become more viable and cross-culture can be promoted.
Q. Talking about global education, most Indian institutes have fared poorly in international rankings. Where are we lacking?
When it comes to Western rankings, our institutes do not have anything of international interest. Internationalisation of CMAT exam will work towards it. For obvious reasons, students from European countries won’t come here to study. We are focusing on participants from SAARC and African countries.
Q. It is a well known fact that research in Indian universities is not up to standard. What’s your take on it?
Research is about real life problems and industrial collaborations. Real world application is very different. It cannot be hypothetical. Hence industry interface is important. Our institutes should collaborate accordingly. Funding is also crucial. Either the centre/state or industry provides the research grant.
Q. AICTE has barred engineering colleges from offering popular science courses. Isn’t this unfair?
What we said is that colleges should have adequate infrastructure and not share resources from each other. The institute should have independent resources for the two streams. Else either one will suffer.
Q. What do you mean by adequate or independent infrastructure?
It means an institute wanting to offer both engineering and science streams should have two independent colleges for each stream. Science courses should not depend on engineering courses’ infrastructure.
Q. There are over 3,700 engineering colleges. Every year almost 1 million candidates are passing out of these colleges. IT industry is absorbing 10%-15% of these graduates while public and private sectors hire another 20%-25%. Yet, a significant pool of candidates is still left out.
Most of these figures are industry or sector specific. The reality is: there is no unemployment. How many engineering graduates can you see roaming around? However, under-employment is rampant. Over-qualified candidates end up taking lesser jobs due to lack of opportunities and a host of other reasons.
Q. Do you agree that most IIM and IIT graduates are more concerned about placements and high packages than giving back to the society?
The perception of ‘giving back’ is very limited. Giving back should be judged by productivity, tax-paying and contribution to the GDP. Everyone wants a good quality life and is busy chasing it. So the concept of giving back should be judged differently.
Q. What are your future plans for CMAT?
We want CMAT to be the brand ambassador and a brand product. In the last CMAT exam, as many as 3 lakh candidates have appeared. Creating a brand value will lead to globalisation of CMAT and standards will automatically increase. CMAT is aimed at facilitating the students by saving time and money. We hope it works out for the best.
AICTE Chairman Dr. S S Mantha holds a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from the M S University, Baroda, Masters in Mechanical Engineering from VJTI, Mumbai, and Ph D in Combustion modelling from University of Mumbai. He authored two books ‘Objet Oriented Programming in C++ Published by Wiley India; and Aerodynamics of Cars, An Experimental Investigation – A Synergy of Wind Tunnel & CFD, LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing.
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2013-06-17 14:53:15