Industry-Education Collaboration.
Generally in a typical Educational institution in the country, huge resources like land, building, air, water, and manpower are always available. But, unfortunately, these remain as non-performing assets in the books.
The end results are already visible. The conditions of country-side schools, drop-out rates, and billions spent for the sake of providing education following the principles of socialism. Those billions, unfortunately, have been non-refundable. The Industry, too, consider products of education as 'unemployable'. Most of the entry level candidates have to undergo real industrial training as apprentices.
A pro-active, visionary, and competent management will look for effective practical means to link such idle assets with normal day-to-day activities of humans. While doing so, not only some positive growth will become visible, but almost all academic subjects can be covered.
The normal day-to-day activities being carried out every day in a typical educational institution are listed here around which academic classes can be intelligently programmed.
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Priority No.
|
Field of Study
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Core Activities
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Key Academic Subjects
|
|
1
|
Energy
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Combination of locally specific
solar, wind, geothermal, hydel, biogas and cogeneration, building AC, water
& waste management
|
Engg
|
|
2
|
Civil Maintenance
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Building and ground maintenance, sanitation, electrical upkeep, Telecomm, instrumentation
|
Science and Tech
|
|
3
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Agri based
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Food Processing: fruits and vegetables, oil or flour mills
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Production Engg
|
|
4
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Dairy
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Milk products
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Zoology, bio-tech
|
|
5
|
Fish/poultry
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Pond utilisation
|
Zoology
|
|
6
|
Catering
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Mess Maintenance: Internal,
external needs for food
|
Hotel Management
|
|
7
|
Horticulture
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Campus beautification, tree plantation, exotic and medicinal plants cultivation
|
Botany
|
|
8
|
Media/Journalism
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To report all such activities
|
Languages, literature, Hindi,
English, local regional language
|
|
9
|
IT
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The essential tool for all
|
Computer Science
|
|
10
|
HR
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Looking after the welfare
|
Personnel Management
|
|
11
|
Accounts
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Monitor cash-inflows
|
Commerce
|
Important Note: Every activity area has still more academic subjects in common like economics, environment, industrial engineering, history, geography, psychology, philosophy, sociology, and, of course, Law.
Each such activity brings in 'value addition'- the key feature of the meaning of Life. The material profits are just by-products that make the institution self-reliant and let it have an iota of credibility.
The main requirements to achieve these objectives are:
-The students be inducted after due counselling considering their family backgrounds, strengths, weaknesses and aspirations,
- Putting the right person in the right trade,
- Identification of locally available resources
The most significant takeaways when the academic curriculum is designed or built around normal human activities,, can be listed as:
- The Institution eventually becomes self-reliant
- Renewable energy systems: environment-friendly power, water and waste management
- Ability to observe 24/7/365 discipline
- Optimum resource utilisation for value addition
- Emphasis on skill development
- Emphasis on vocational studies, entrepreneurship, tech build-up
- Better interaction with industry
It is up to the management to practice what it tries to preach.
