Mandatory induction programme for engineering students from next year

Students will have to follow a daily routine of physical activity with games and sports including Yoga. Each student will pick one game and learn it for the three weeks.

Engineering students across the country will undergo a compulsory induction programme from next year as part of their undergraduate programmme.

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Students will have to follow a daily routine of physical activity with games and sports including Yoga. Each student will pick one game and learn it for the three weeks.

Also, the programme will also be used to rectify some critical lacunas, for example holding special English classes for those students who have deficiency in it.

Each student will also be asked to choose one skill related to the arts whether it is visual or performing arts and they will also hold discussion on universal values that students should have.

The first three weeks of the students in the institute would be earmarked for the induction programme. Under the universal values module, apart from drawing the attention of the student to larger issues of life, it would build relationships between teachers and students which last for their entire 4-year stay and possibly beyond.

All the institutes approved by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) will have to follow it, officials said. There are over 3000 engineering institutes under the AICTE, the technical regulator of the country.

There is a mad rush for engineering today, without the student determining for himself his interests and his goals. This is a major factor in the current state of demotivation towards studies that exists among UG students. The success of gaining admission into a desired institution but failure in getting the desired branch, with peer pressure generating its own problems, leads to a peer environment that is demotivating and corrosive. Start of hostel life without close parental supervision at the same time, further worsens it with also a poor daily routine,” reads the note on the induction programme.

The induction programme was discussed and approved for all colleges by AICTE in March 2017. “It is a good move as students who join the institute after a rigorous training in terms of the coaching they undergo and then rather than getting any breathing space they are plunged deep into academics. They need to unwind and forge new relations with fellow students and familiarize themselves with the new environment,” said an IIT director.

“To come out of this situation, a multi-pronged approach is needed. One will have to work closely with the newly joined students in making them feel comfortable, allow them to explore their academic interests and activities, reduce competition and make them work for excellence, promote bonding within them, build relations between teachers and students, give a broader view of life, and build character”.

Under visits to local areas it has been recommended that a couple of visits to the landmarks of the city, or a hospital or orphanage could be organized. This would familiarize them with the area as well as expose them to the under privileged.

The proficiency module, would be used to overcome some critical lacunas that students might have, for example, English, computer familiarity among others. “These should run like crash courses, so that when normal courses start after the induction program, the student has overcome the lacunas substantially. We hope that problems arising due to lack of English skills, wherein students start lagging behind or failing in several subjects, for no fault of theirs, would, hopefully, become a thing of the past,” it said.