Talent Hunt Through Industry Immersion

Setting the context for the discussion, Padma Jaiswal stated that in India, universities look at the industry to incubate their role and suggested, "The universities' leaders should collaborate with the industry through their CSR activity to work on research and get help in funding".

Eminent panellists discuss the talent hunt through industry immersion at the 5th Higher Education Conference held in Chennai.

Among the panellist were Dr M Krishnan, Vice Chancellor of Madurai Kamaraj University; Dr Pitchumani, Vice Chancellor of Manomaniam Sundarnar University; Dr Malini Pande, Joint Registrar of Humanities & Science at Dr MGR Educational and Reaearch Institute; A P Parigi, Co-Founder of Radio Mirchi and OOH Media; Dr VS Kanchana Bhaaskaran, Pro Vice Chancellor of VIT Chennai; Dr Kamal Bijlani, Director of Amrita University; and Dr Kannan, RUSA Coordinator in Chennai. The session was moderated by Padma Jaiswal, IAS, Secretary, Department of IT, Pudducherry.

VIT Chennai's VC expresses that immersion is necessary and students should be trained for the industry standards right from day one. She also said that the industries should identify their problems so that academia can research upon. "Industry and academia need to immerse themselves for effective results," she said.

Dijlani discussed the attitude of a student and how it played a vital role in holistically shaping up their future. He said, "To produce quality, we need students who are self-motivated, passionate and have a love for learning. Self-learning programmes, critical thinking, project-based learning and value-based education should be integrated into the higher education curriculum from the beginning."

Dr M Krishnan asserted the need to identify the societal crisis and talent to implement in the industry so that the societal problems don't exist.

"Tamil Nadu is the hub of talent and industry with a little gap that has to be addressed by universities. The universities need to eliminate this gap and reform the curriculum by incorporating basic skills such as interpersonal and interpretation," said Dr Kannan.

A P Parigi said, "Leadership has failed the students. To be successful in life, students need to understand and get to know themselves. They should work on their soft skills, be critical thinking and work on problem-based solutions."

Furthermore, Dr Malini Pande points out that the students should be trained to be globally competent. She discusses the LLRR (Learning, Linkage, Research and Responsibility) strategy to do so, "LLRR can be broadly elaborated as, development of curriculum with industry inputs, longer internship opportunities, industry-relevant research and social awareness respectively."