Students should learn beyond classrooms : AICTE Chairman

Visakhapatnam: Higher education institutions need to devise a strategy to enhance quality standards as there is an urgent need to build stronger and world-class graduate schools, according to All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) Chairman Anil D Sahasrabudhe.

Speaking to The Hans India on the sidelines of the 10th convocation of GITAM Deemed to be University, he mentioned that students have to focus on experiential learning. "They should come out of rote learning method and explore beyond classrooms.

Unnat Bharat Abhiyan, innovation workshops, AICTE Training and Learning (ATAL) Academy and projects are some of the avenues where the students can explore to widen their horizon," the Chairman from New Delhi shares.

As many as 2 lakh inputs have come from various quarters for the Draft National Education Policy 2019 which need to be segregated, he informs. Laying emphasis on multi-disciplinary courses, the AICTE Chairman says, "Whatever required changes are to be done in the curriculum structure in the engineering stream, the AICTE has already done it.

First, humanity and social sciences were not given importance in engineering curriculum earlier. Second, we were trying to push everything into the students' throat in the form of more subjects and credits. We were not leaving the old or learning anything new. But now, the credits have been reduced to 160 from 200-plus."

Sahasrabudhe asserts that learning does not take place in the classroom alone. "With the advent of the internet and material made accessible through digital libraries, students can now be open to learning beyond classroom-learning. Along with fundamentals and core subjects, freedom should also be given to students to pick up diverse disciplines to help them connect dots and apply knowledge learnt," he suggests.

He suggested the students to focus on problem-solving skills as application of knowledge plays a key role in making them industry-ready. "Gaining proficiency in concepts is important. This apart, teachers need to be groomed to keep themselves updated," he emphasises.

About ATAL Academy, Sahasrabudhe says, "Apart from four ATAL Academies in Jaipur, Vadodara, Thirvananthapuram and Guwahati, the academy would be set up in 11 states, including Andhra Pradesh and Telangana."

For new teachers joining the profession, the Chairman says that about eight modules have been developed to make them more competitive. They will also be trained in handling flipped classroom and blended learning as well, he adds.