CHAPTER 3

ENGINEERING EDUCATION

Engineering graduates today require not only adequate technological ability and problem

solving skills, but also be endowed with soft skills like cooperative working,

communication and presentation skills, business ethics, and inter-personal relationships, and

possess a deep commitment to safety, reliability, quality and sustainability of all engineering

activities in which they take part. Engineering Institutions have now a new responsibility to

provide opportunities to every student to acquire these abilities in addition to their technical

knowledge.

The 20 Century witnessed a phenomenal rate of growth and advance in

technologies. There are no signs that the rate of growth in present century would be any less.

The half-life of many technologies are already much lower than the time span of conventional 4-

year Under Graduate program. A fixed 4-year curriculum is already becoming obsolete, as

changes have to be made frequently during the 4-year period to keep the students abreast of the

latest advances in their field of activity. The rapidity of technological obsolescence is compelling

the educational system to ensure that students during their stay in the Institutions develop an

attitude for life-long learning and acquire self-learning skills and are provided enough

opportunities to demonstrate their ability in information search and retrieval and for acquiring

new knowledge. Relationship with their almamater need no longer be a one-shot affair for

students but should continue throughout their entire professional life through mentoring from their

teachers, participation in continuing education programmes and access to advanced education and

training courses.

The chapter presents the following sections

3.1. The Quality and Relevance in Engineering Education

3.2. Quality Assurance

3.3. Quality Assessment

3.4. ISO: 9000 Standards

3.5. Teaching - Learning Process

3.6. Engineering Education in India

3.7. Growth professional education in Andhra Pradesh

3.8. SWOT Analysis

3.1. THE QUALITY AND RELEVANCE IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION

Romesh Verma (2004)150

in the article „Quality and relevance In Education‟ is of the

opinion that the concern for quality education can be assessed on the basis of three paradigms:

(i).Academic standards of the course, (ii).Teaching Quality; and, iii).Student Achievement. It can

be described in three forms of quality assessment: (a).Internal Performance Indicator (b).External

Performance Indicator; and, (c).Operational Performance Indicators

a. Internal Performance Indicators

The Internal Performance Indicators of an instruction reflect the resources, infrastructure

and other basic inputs used to inculcate skills required for quality education. Well qualified

experienced teachers, good library, well equipped laboratory facilities that constitutes the inputs

of an instruction, have their influence on the teaching-learning activity and on the quality of the

students.

An institutional environmental activities in the campus also effect in developing skills

and competencies to foster quality education. In addition to the curricular inputs the extra-

curricular inputs also determines the quality of educational programmers decides the processing

of quality education of the students.

b.External Performance Indicators

External Performance Indicators are commonly known as process indicators. The process

indicators of a quality education attract our attention towards the teaching-learning process. The

teaching-learning process cannot be quantified. However, we can have quantifiable indicators to

evaluate the central academic activity in an instruction; further we can assess the quality of

process of developing quality education skills among the students.

The process indicators of a quality education instruction concentrate on the development

of (i).values like integrity, compassion, tolerance, love for fellow human beings. (ii).Positive and

proper attitude and professional ethics among the students.

c. Operational Performance Indicators

The Operational Performance Indicators of an instruction, reflecting quality of an

instruction is based on the successful performance of its students .The output indicators like

examination results, competitive exam performance etc, describe the outcome of the inputs and

the process. Examination results can be considered as the simple standard and verifiable

indicator to evaluate the performance of an educational instruction. The examination result is an

attractive variable for measuring the quality of education in an institution. It is one of the few

quantifiable performance indicators in the field of education.

Quality in technical education is a dynamic entity, which is the outcome of interaction

among many factors including inter alias, leadership, quality of faculty and students,

infrastructure facilities, research and learning environment, governance, strategic planning,

assessment procedures, and market forces. When thinking about the quality of technical

education it is useful to distinguish between educational outcomes and the processes leading to

them. People who seek particular defined outcomes may rate quality in those terms, ranking

educational institutions according to the extent to which their graduates meet „absolute‟ criteria

concerning

3.1.1. Principles and Practices

The technical education has central concern to make education user friendly, cost effective,

employment oriented, adopting pragmatic approach inculcating primary, secondary and

specialize skills among the learners to boost productivity and quality. The process of quality

development in education is based on the principles namely, values addition, through

instructions, guidance and making a student socially useful for the society. The application of the

principles of quality in education facilitates an instruction to produce a student an efficient, self-

reliant, productive human resource. The principle of quality education therefore, guides the

institution for quality.

Development of quality in technical education needs a dynamic methodology of education

promoting fast access, easy connectivity and enhanced interactivity, and enriched content,

relevant curriculum with respect to employment market. The standards of education in the

knowledge era is to be judged in terms of its quality, relevance and the quantity of new

knowledge absorbed by the system and disseminated through modern devices of communication

and technology.

The basic facilities and equipment especially of a technological nature those are necessary

for a institution to function. The quality of different types of infrastructure-management,

transport, electricity, canteen, managerial staff, computer lab, clerical staff, library, building,

furniture, roads, is also a crucial part of an institution. Poor infrastructure translates directly into

higher costs for producers, reducing their productivity and dependability as suppliers.

3.1.2. Inculcate Quality

To inculcate quality, everyone requires to do his best is not the only answer; for the

purpose, one must know what to do, how to do? Knowing, what to do involve teachers and

students, Knowing how to do involve teaching and learning. Quality expects improving every

moment with respect to developments in the field, its management and technology.

Harvey (1998)34

in the article „An assessment of past and current approaches to quality in

higher education‟ discussed about quality and mentioned that the interrelationship between

quality and standards which depend on the approach to quality and the particular notion of

standard.

According to Harvey, the exceptional approach to quality emphasizes the maintenance

of academic standards through the summative assessment of knowledge. The approach

presumes an implicit, normative 'gold-standard' both for learning and for research. The

perfection approach, he added, emphasizes consistency in external quality monitoring of

academic, competence and service standards while the fitness for purpose approach relates

standards to specified purpose-related objectives. This requires criteria-referenced assessment of

students. The value for money approach, he says, places emphasis on a good deal for the customer

and requires the maintenance or improvement of academic standards, graduate abilities and

research output, for the same unit of resource. While the transformative approach, according to

him, uses standards to assess the enhancement of students in terms of academic knowledge and

a broader set of transformative skills, such as analysis, critique, lateral thinking, innovation,

and communication. Such quality perceptions may apply, alone or in combination, to any type of

product or service in education and this includes technical education and training.

3.2. QUALITY ASSURANCE

Quality assurance has always been a matter of concern and significance in education, in

general, and in professional education such as technical education in particular, the recent

quantitative expansion of an unprecedented nature, in India, has caused educators to devote

careful attention to the quality aspect. There already exist several regulatory mechanisms for

ensuring minimum standards before an institution is started.

Engineering education is now subject to a range of formalized mechanisms as part of an

overall process by which quality is assured in its various activities. These features are: teaching;

entry standards; student to-staff ratio; library facilities and computer spending; Facilities; pass

percentage; graduate placements; and completion rate.

Due to the internationalization of technical education and the introduction of free trade

economy, the quality has become mandatory for education providers in order to withstand and

compete in the world market. The quality of engineering and technology education is complex

and challenging due to various reasons, and can be analogous to industry.

Quality assurance refers to the determination of standards, appropriate methods and quality

requirements by an expert body, accompanied by a process of inspection or evaluation that

examines the extent to which practice meets these standards. A quality assurance involves

designing systems to deliver quality before the event; its emphasis is on assurance, rather than on

detection.

Jagadeesh (2000)151

in his article „Improvement of quality of higher education in

engineering sciences with emphasis on international aspects‟ emphasizes that in order to measure

the quality of engineering education, the most traditional process involves the measurement of

the quality of engineering graduates in terms of educational values, such as academic results and

workplace recruitments.

Thus, a quality assurance system, based on the fact that all functions share responsibility of

quality, provides an effective method of acquiring and maintaining desired quality standards.

External quality assurance was conceived in India, presently, there are three agencies that

evaluate quality of institutions and programmes through an external quality assurance in the

country. These are the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) set up by the

UGC in 1994 to accredit institutions of higher education; the National Board of Accreditation

(NBA) established by the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) in 1994 to accredit

programmes in engineering and related areas.

Deshmukh (2002)152

in the article „IIT Model For TQM in Excellence in Higher Education‟

is of the view that quality of the institution depends on the commitment and objectives identified

by an institution namely ensuring that the institute‟s goals are clearly defined, and all tasks and

responsibilities within the institution are specified in relation to these goals, which are effectively

supported. Rethinking every task and process in order to define every step and to identify and

involve all the individuals whose contribution are necessary and appreciate in the task of

improving the educational process in terms of measurable and definable criteria. A commitment

to continuous monitoring of performance evaluation of progress, training of new and existing

staff, and taking fresh total quality initiatives.

3.3. QUALITY ASSESSMENT

The design of assessment systems are characterized by an „internal‟ or an „external‟ motive

and based on the underlying perspective on quality it relies on. It specifies who should assess, for

what, and how? Even if most commentators on assessment claim that the purpose with such

activities is improvement, there seems to be a possible difference between internally and

externally motivated assessments. With a basis in external motives, assessments often seem to be

perceived as not helpful to institutions by those who are assessed.

Livingstone (1996)153

in the article, “The qualities which comprise quality: a faculty and

personal experience.” expresses that improvements seem more likely to follow from an

assessment when there is a clear internal motivation for it. A perception of the assessment as an

aid in finding possibilities for improvements is very much in line with a self-reflective

perspective. Externally motivated assessments on the other hand might not evoke such a

perspective so easily. One particular aspect which could result in difficulties is the connection

between assessments and resource allocation.

Besides the question of internal or external motive, another question is whether the method

for measurements is based on an internal or an external perspective. It has become rather

common to use so-called „peer review‟ as a measurement method, the most obvious advantage

with this approach is that an outsider‟s scrutiny could unveil aspects which could be hard to find

with an internal perspective. Given that the peer is regarded as competent, the findings could also

be regarded as more likely to be trustworthy by external agencies. More problematic is the

inevitable subjectiveness in the peer‟s assessment. The findings can to a large extent be regarded

as dependent on the actual peer, an aspect which is discussed by Ornander (1995)154

in his report

on quality assessment practices.

Finally, irrespective of how these aspects are resolved, it is not so evident what should be

measured. This is a problem which ultimately is caused by the difficulty to determine what really

constitutes quality. Even given measures which would be generally accepted as valid, which

institution is the best, the one which attracts the best students (an input measure), the one with

the best graduates (an output measure), or the one where the enhancement of students

competencies is the greatest.

3.3.1. The Nature and Scope of Accreditation

The primary purpose of accreditation is to ensure quality control and quality assurance,

commonly with reference to a certification system in the areas of education, training, testing, etc.

The basic process inherent in accreditation is evaluation of the different sub systems and

component processes. There are two parts to it: critical self-assessment and external peer review,

the former is performed by the faculty as a part of the support materials, and, if effectively done,

can be a valuable strategic tool.

The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, ABET, has been the pioneer in

designing and implementing the accreditation of engineering and engineering technology

programs in the US. Several countries world-wide have followed closely the ABET processes.

The Indian initiative, through the establishment of the National Board of Accreditation in 1994,

has derived inspiration from the rich experience of ABET, but has introduced several

modifications appropriately to take local conditions into account.

A companion paper in this IJEE Special Issue traces the history and evolution of ABET,

and its recent articulation of Engineering Criteria 2000(EC 2000), which represent the result of a

comprehensive study of the existing system and introspection, through the Accreditation Process

Review Committee set up in 1992 to help outline `a quality-oriented, flexible accreditation system

that encourages diversity and does not inhibit innovations in an engineering system'.

3.3.2. Accreditation Processes

Accreditation and assessment is very important in order to maintain the quality of

engineering education in any nation, which, in turn, can directly affect the status and quality of

engineering graduates, and hence the technical workforce. The benefits of the educational

assessment and accreditation process for engineering and technology can be divided into two

parts; namely academic (student) and administrative (institutional).

The academic benefits for students may be listed as follows:

a. Design and implement advanced curricula, courses and laboratory works.

b. Measure learning outcomes of students and identify strengths and weaknesses.

c. Foster industrial interactions and the placement of students.

d. Identify and develop the professional developments of students.

e. Design quality educational programmes in engineering and technology, etc.

The administrative benefits for institutions can include the following:

a. Improve classroom and laboratory facilities.

b. Develop and implement faculty resources.

c. Identify reliable communication tools and facilities.

d. Identify and attract funding resources and agencies.

3.4. ISO: 9000 STANDARDS

The ISO: 9000 international Standards are a set of written guidelines that make up a non-

specific quality management system that can be applied to an organization regardless of the

products or services being provided. According to its design,ISO:9000 simply provides a

framework, without changing how the organization operates, that ensures that nothing important

is left out and that everyone is clear about who is responsible for doing what, when, how, why

and where. www.iso.org155

The quality system was originally created for manufacturing industry. Now service

industry is also making lot of effort to improve their quality. These ISO: 9000 international

quality standards are being implemented in many service organizations such as educational

institutions, banking services, postal services, etc. Globalization of market, heightened quality

requirements through tough competition and mushrooming of educational institutes have lead to

the quality thrusts nationally and internationally. Educational institutes are pressurized to be

more efficient, work better with less funding, meet the needs of market and engage in long

lasting quality improvement efforts. Absence of any grading system or a specific quality standard

of educational institutes in India has given a scope to implement ISO: 9000 in educational

institutions. As a consequence of quality movement in industry, educational institutions are

inspired to go for some sort of quality management system in order to gain competitive

advantage and to promote a strategic development of educational institutes. A variety of

educational institutions have started to implement ISO: 9000 as explained by Zuckerman &

Rhodes (2000)156

, in their book „Quality assurance through ISO: 9000‟.

ISO: 9000 is a set of quality standards that assist an organization to identify, correct and

prevent error, and promote continual improvement. Educational institutions are implementing

ISO: 9000, as they have to face stiff global competition. ISO: 9000 standards were revised in

1994 and then 2000. The latest standard of ISO: 9001-2000 is designed to meet the needs of

service sector including education sector. The recent change has decreased the number of

available quality system models from three to only one, and major requirements have been

reduced from twenty requirements to four broad requirements, i.e.,(a).Management

Responsibility; (b).Resource Management; (c).Product realization ;(d) Measurement Analysis

and Improvement.

These changes represent a more user friendly standard for educational institutions. The

ISO: 9000 standard improves operational efficiency and communication within the organization.

It provides uniform products with competitive edge and hence results in greater customer loyalty

and market share and enables a company to look closely at its management practices and identify

areas of improvement.

The quality of an educational institute is expected to be perfect by various stakeholders

such as parents, students, industry and society. Student and their parents are rightfully

questioning the quality of curriculum, instructional delivery, the learning environment and

improvement of knowledge. The competitive environment demands students to have in depth

and practical knowledge, understanding of their specific area along with interpersonal and

communication skills. As a society we want that institution must ensure quality of education to

provide able professionals for continuous growth and development. As expressed by

Karapetrovic, et al.(1998)54

in the conference paper „Quality management in the academic

environment‟.

Peters John (1999)55

in his article “Educational accreditation through ISO: 9000” support

ISO: 9000 as a global quality system for educational institution and assure that education

providers are keeping their promises to the students. Karapetrovic (2001)56

at the International

Conference on Engineering Education addressed the issues of why and how engineering schools

could implement the ISO 9001:2000 standard.

3.4.1. Motives of ISO: 9000 Standards

Educational institutions, wishing to implement ISO: 9000 quality management systems

have number of motives behind its implementation. The documentation is one of the motives of

educational institutions to implement such quality management systems.

Harris & Oven(1994)60

, in their article „The development of a quality system for higher

education‟ highlighted that the Documentation improves understanding among faculty and staff

and can be used to train newly hired staff. The overall systems of educational institute can be

streamlined; quality problems can be identified, corrected and prevented in a systematic manner.

Facilitating an educational institution get the market advantage by mentioning in market

brochures such as „First ISO certified engineering institution in country‟.

Berghe (1997)62

in the article „Application of ISO:9000 standards to education and

training‟ conducted a survey in UK institutions and found that institutions sought the standards to

improve market share and for promotional purposes. so market and government accreditation

benefits are generated. Government accreditation is essential for every educational institution in

India. Therefore implementation of ISO:9000 quality management systems in India are

considered as the driving force to get accreditation certification/designation from government

agencies.

3.4.2. Benefits of ISO: 9000 Standards

The standards‟ long-term contribution to the organizations may be positive, neutral or

negative, depending on the way that companies choose to implement them. ISO: 9000 standards

have made strong impact on institutions, faculty, staff and students. The quality management is

very essential to reassure that educational institutions perform well and that the customers of

education are being well served. In accordance with the benefits which are categorized into four

groups, namely the operational results, financial results, benefits for the customers and benefits

for the workers.

Motwani et al.( (1996)66

, in their study on implementation of ISO: 9000 which is presented

in the article „A Roadmap to Implement ISO: 9000‟ have summarized the benefits of ISO:9000

implementation. These include improvements in operations and methods, increased efficiency of

organization, employee‟s motivation and encouragement.

3.4.2.1. Benefit to the System

The system refers to the overall working of the institution. It means how the overall

working of the institutions will improve with ISO:9000 implementation. There are various

benefits derived from the system. The area, which experienced the greatest benefits, is

maintenance of records. Institutions maintain the records as an evidence of activities performed

and results achieved. The institutions decided to keep the forms, formats and registers etc. to

maintain all kind of records. The documentation also improves understanding among the faculty

and staff, and can be used to train newly hired staff. The second important benefit to the system

is that employees are clear about their roles and responsibilities. Third benefit is improvement in

education imparting techniques. Finally Improvement in work efficiency of institutions the

Studies indicates that Indian institutions are lesser benefited in improvement in work efficiency

of the institutions. It is really surprising that by keeping good records, organizations are not able

to improve the efficiency.

3.4.2.2. Benefits to Faculty

Faculty is a core member of an educational institution. The quality of education is highly

dependent on the faculty. The contribution of ISO: 9000 standards towards faculty members

cannot be overlooked. There are various benefits achieved by the faculty after implementing

ISO:9000 in an institution. The most encouraging benefit is improvement in lecture planning and

delivery. Now most of the faculty members are making plans of their lectures and check how

much they are able to deliver as per the schedule. The next benefit is availability of infrastructure

in their offices and labs etc. Some teachers pointed out that ISO:9000 helped to provide them

resources and they are now having computer, telephone, internet etc. in their offices. Results also

indicate that faculty members are lesser benefited in terms of motivation and encouragement.

3.4.2.3. Benefits to Students

The students are the customers of educational institutions and their satisfaction is the prime

objective. Student satisfaction is defined in terms of course quality, instruction and peer

collaboration and with support services. ISO:9000 standards made significant contribution to

satisfy the students. Students are getting benefits in terms of facilities. They are now getting

more facilities than before ISO:9000 implementation. Other benefits are control in non-

conforming activities and introduction of suggestion schemes. Some of the institutions are giving

extra efforts to improve the pass percentage of the students. Results also indicate that students

are lesser benefited in terms of industrial visits during their study period. The area, which

experienced the greatest benefits are (i) Improvement in maintenance of records; (ii).Better and

scheduled Lecture planning and delivery; (iii). Clarification of the roles and responsibilities of

employees; (iv). Better techniques of imparting education; (v). Improvement of facilities for

students‟ interaction; and (vi). Implementation of Suggestion schemes to solve the student‟s

problems.

3.4.2.4 External Benefits

With the implementation of ISO:9000 standards Indian educational institutions can have a

considerable improvement in perception about organization and better quality of intake students

as more important external benefit. But they are not capable of generating funds from external

bodies such as accreditation boards, Ministry of human resource and industries, etc. with ISO

certification.

3.5. TEACHING - LEARNING PROCESS

The role of teachers, curricula, textbooks and facilities cannot be overemphasized for a

facilitated teaching-learning process, the psychological and behavioral preparation of students

for learning and achievement remains a necessary precondition for the success of the educational

process. Quality and access must receive simultaneous attention, and one must not be used as a

trade-off against the other. These include establishment of teacher resource centers; revision of

curricula to make it need base; open competition for textbook development; introduction of new

learning assessment system; continuous professional development; and improvement in the

quality of teaching-learning process through the introduction of learner-centered pedagogy.

With the explosion of knowledge, student population and their aspirations, the problem of

higher education in general and professional education in particular have acquired greater

complexity and magnitude. The concept of teaching has undergone a great change with the

advent of time. This change in the concept of teaching is due to various reasons. As teaching was

regarded synonymous with giving or nourishing information; one who is having a lot of

information, as if an encyclopedia of information, was considered to be a learning one.

Teaching is no more considered as feeding with information is giving out knowledge; it is

stimulating and directing learning by students. the teacher‟s role is changing, in the authoritative

delivery of knowledge is being supplemented by spending more time diagnosing the learners

needs, motivating and encouraging study and checking the knowledge acquired. The teacher is

now expected not only to inculcate knowledge but to encourage thinking. The real purpose of

education today is to teach the students „how to learn‟ rather than fill him up with knowledge.

Therefore, the role of the teacher is to initiate his students into the art of learning i.e., to help

them acquire, the right mental attitudes and learning habits.

The role of the teacher is changing rapidly with the realization that active learning takes

place only when the students themselves contribute to the learning process with the teacher acting

more like a facilitator helping students in absorbing new ideas and like a moderator in

harmonizing different points of view expressed by the student learners. This change of emphasis

from teaching to learning is already creating new problems of identifying what is to be learnt in

the classroom and what could be left to the self-learning mode or to be acquired through

laboratory and project work, assignments and the like.

Academic activities are at low ebb and the academic calendar itself gets seriously disrupted

almost every year. The system of technical education continues to encourage memorization of

facts and regurgitation rather than creativity. While the results in higher education are clearly

determined by the foundation laid in school education. We cannot ignore the fact that we do not

have many colleges today which can pride themselves of imparting under graduate education of

the higher quality, comparable to the well known institutions in the world”.

Keeping the educational qualitative analysis in view, the education industry is witnessing

growing competition. Previously, this competition was limited by geography, but now the

institutions have to deal with competition outside their local geography. To stay competitive,

Universities are looking at new methods of reaching more students outside their local geography,

while minimizing the cost structure for delivering this demand for education.

Another concern for institutions is providing current technology as part of the learning

experience, and the need to share resources to minimize costs. Along with, much to the

acceptability, the interface between the teachers and students involve the main components of

quality in teaching, which include communication skills, qualifications, innovative methods of

teaching, need based curriculum, adequate training input for teachers and learner centered

teaching.

More-so-over, the effectiveness of the teaching process depends on the quality of

communication between the teacher and the pupil. With many teachers teaching a large group of

students, the quality of communication is diluted and the teacher is forced to distribute his/ her

attention amongst all students.

In order to perform work effectively, a plan is required and after preparing the plan an act

is to be decided. If such planning and selection of means or methods is not done, work will take

place in an unorganized and haphazard manner and the cumulative effect of it; will not be

beneficial to the concerned. For this, the awareness of the faculty, with different teaching

strategies which can be adopted in institutions and the usage of those strategies would contribute

to a better teaching-learning process at all levels.

Teacher quality is a priority area in education, every faculty working in an institution must

be “highly qualified, faculty must know the content they will teach, know how to teach the

content, and meet high standards of teacher professionalism. Education is conceptualized around

the notion of valuing the diversity of individual learners, the inherent worth of learners and that

in institutions and classrooms, as in society, diversity is a resource for learning, not an obstacle

to be overcome.

The students are empowered towards better learning, decision making and ultimately

made to be disciplined through self disciplined modules and leadership skills. It is mandatory for

all to have and imbibe the Leadership skills to make them a better and Total Quality Person in

future. In order to practice Group Leadership Skills the following are the essentials for practice at

institutions:

a. Classroom Environment: We can help our students by establishing a supportive, relaxed and

respectful learning environment. Be warm and welcoming. Do not raise your voice when

they ask for clarification.

b. Physical arrangement of the room: As some of our class sites, it is not our prerogative to

change the arrangement of the room. It is also helpful to leave some open space in the room

where students can stand up for oral exercises.

c. Encourage Student Participation and interaction: Encourage students to express their

opinions and to ask questions not only to you, but to whoever they feel like getting a

clarification as well.

d. Eye Contact: Eye contact is a polite way to communicate that speaks person‟s honesty.

e. Pacing Lessons: Watch your students‟ faces, and check for comprehension. Do the students

need more explanation? More time to practice? Pacing is also important in asking and

answering questions.

f. Group Rules and Respect: Cultivate a spirit of cooperation and respect within the group.

Help participants to understand that everyone in the group is a student and that everyone is

also a teacher.

g. Dealing with dominators: If a particular student tends to dominate the conversation or to

answer all of the teachers questions the leader can give other students an opportunity to speak

by using the student s name to interrupt them.

h. Encouraging Shy Participants: If a student is not participating encourage him/ her in the same

way, by using the student s name.

3.5.1. Teacher and Student

The role of engineering teacher is fast changing due to the rapid changes in the socio-

economic scenario in the country. Today‟s teacher has to perform a variety of tasks pertaining to

diverse roles in addition to teaching including research, development of learning resource

material, guidance and counseling the students etc., The objective of technical education is not

only to provide continuous supply of technical manpower to meet the needs of the industry and

the community but also to keep updated in their professional knowledge and skills. Shortage of

faculty is another factor which is adversely affecting the quality of teaching learning process.

Staff development is a continuous process and has pedagogical, technical, management,

industrial exposure and professional development components. It should take into account the

present and future job requirements and the innate capabilities and interests of the teachers. It

should also conform to the goals and aspirations of individual teachers of building up a career for

him in the institution, thus providing for vertical mobility. The teachers are far more important to

advancement of engineering education than details of curricula and grandness of physical

facilities seems to be ignored by the educational planners.

In order for a teacher to check the student's understanding, then the teacher needs to get

the student to do something or some things that illustrate the student's understanding. In this way

both the student and the teacher can be sure that understanding has occurred. For example, if a

teacher has taught a student a new word, the teacher might ask the student to define the word. If

the student can define the word, then the teacher may be happy the student has the knowledge.

The teacher might ask the student to use the word in a few sentences, and if the student uses the

word meaningfully, then the teacher might be happy that the student understands the word to

some degree. If the teacher notices that the student is using the word in everyday life, then the

teacher may be happy that the student has understood the word.

The important consideration in teaching learning process is how Attract the Most Qualified

and Retain the Highest Quality. The formula for achieving a highly qualified teaching force is no

secret. Maintain a rigorous standard for entry; give early support for beginning teachers,

including training and mentors; pay for higher salaries and better working conditions; and make

retaining the best teachers a priority. Start with raising the standards for teacher preparation.

Better pay attracts skilled candidates and keeps quality teachers in the profession. Evaluate,

support and retain these high-quality teachers.

Retaining quality teachers requires professional development throughout their careers.

Such development, if effective and ongoing, can align teachers‟ classroom methods with high

standards and the demanding curricula to which they are accountable. Routinely evaluating

teachers in practice, their teaching skills, and content knowledge, must be done - but this alone is

not enough. These steps must lead to programs that develop high-quality teachers‟ current in

their fields and sharpened in their skills. These teachers will benefit from scientifically based

research, and their students will gain in learning. Without this professional support, teachers may

not remain in the profession long enough to make a difference in students‟ lives.

3.5.2. Motivation for Excellence

In a teaching learning situation, teachers come across a variety of student behaviors. Some

find studies interesting and concentrate, some students excel in studies or a particular subject

while others are just average or below average. One of the factors that explain this with

difference in student behavior and performance is motivation. There is no one sure way of

motivating students. It is a common misconception among teachers that once the students have

been given initial impetus there is no need to sustain that because they would remain motivated

throughout. Motivation is a concomitant variable of all instructional activities. Therefore, it

becomes essential for the teacher to make conscious efforts to sustain the motivation of the

students and motivate them to excel in academics.

A high degree of motivation helps in arousing students into action and participates in the

learning process. The success of the teacher depends upon how well teacher can arouse the

interest and desire of students to learn. It is known that learning is facilitated when students were

ready to learn. When they face what they see as a difficult problem regularly and are aware that

they are unable to solve it, they lose motivation to learn. In instances of this nature it is important

to build readiness in the learners, create confidence in their own ability, direct, energize and help

them select their behaviour. Motivation is a necessary but not sufficient condition of learning.

Achintya & Prasad(2007)157

in their article „Scenario of Technical Education –Constraints

and their Strategic Solutions‟ expresses a view that every teacher has four types of motivational

functions –arousal, expectancy, incentive and disciplinary. Arousal function requires teachers to

maintain the interest of the learner s throughout and avoid monotony and boredom, which have a

negative influence of learning. Expectancy function involves describing clearly what the student

is expected to achieve. The incentive function is based on the premise that the use of incentives

will increase student efforts in the learning task. The incentives may be feedback on test and

assignment, praise and encouragement, grades, competition and cooperation. The disciplinary

function requires teachers to regulate student behaviour. This may involve punishment and

withholding of positive rein forcers.

Motivated students are likely to learn better and achieve more that those with low levels of

motivation. Teachers have to judiciously choose the appropriate motivational strategies and build

them into the instructional processes. Enhancing readiness to learn, ensuring clarity of goals,

arousing curiosity and focusing attention, providing feedback and reinforcement are some of the

conditions to facilitate high student motivation.

3.5.3. Laboratory education

The primary objective of laboratory instruction is the development of abilities to plan,

design, conduct and report experiments through data acquisition, analysis and interpretation.

Further, laboratories can also be used to develop attitudes, values, habits and professional skills

through experimental and collaborative learning.

Undergraduate laboratories are perhaps the weakest links in the chain of engineering

education. Everyone from the student to the administrator seems convinced of the need for the

teaching laboratories but nobody appears to be satisfied with them. The students view

laboratories as boring, not intellectually challenging but involving a lot of cookbook style chores.

The equipment seems outdated. To a teacher, laboratory teaching is a second-rate job that does

not contribute to his professional development. It is largely boring and repetitive and to which

the students are completely apathetic. The college administrators view laboratories as perennial

sinks of money, and as sources of administrative and employee problems.

The problem arises from the fact that there is a lot of confusion about the design and

conduct of experiments. It is wrongly believed that more the number of experiments, the more is

the „practical' learning. Most of the experiments in undergraduate labs are fully-set experiments

where detailed instructions are given to the student. Just like all other courses there is no

opportunity for exploration in the lab courses as well. A student walks up to a set-up, turns it on,

takes a few readings, and walks away to write a detailed report. At best an experiment is just a

numerical problem with realistic data.

A major problem with all laboratory experiments is that they do not attempt to challenge

the student sufficiently and the whole exercise is conducted at a very rudimentary level. Vital

aspects of experiments are not highlighted for the students. The student is typically not involved

in such vital aspects as designing or selecting the apparatus, what measurements need to be

taken, or what variables need to be controlled. In fact, a student has no control over the

experiment, including how the tests are to be conducted, how the accuracy is to be estimated, and

given no opportunity to think for themselves.

Some of the concerns about the general undergraduate engineering educational experience

are that it is bookish, is devoid of practical engineering and design issues, it does not enhance

problem solving skills, and, consequently, it does not generate among the students any sense of

identification with the professions involved.

What really distinguishes a good institution from a bad one is the quality of the laboratory

and project work. One step that will have a very positive impact on quality is improvement in the

laboratory work. This requires availability of good laboratory manuals and case studies. While

there is no shortage of good theory textbooks there is no tradition of publishing and

disseminating laboratory and project case studies.

A good laboratory environment improves confidence as well as motivation, among

students , instructors can relate concepts taught in the class to what is happening in the

laboratory, and for the student to understand the intuitively having experienced the issues first

hand.

3.5.4. Current Pattern of Education

Mishra Sanjay (2006)158

, in his book „Understanding Quality Assurance in Higher

education‟ identifies the following aspects, which influence the current pattern of education they

are

a. Government is no longer the principal employer.

b. Jobs are based on skills and new knowledge.

c. High frequency of mobility in job.

d. Task based remuneration.

e. Knowledge based economy and global job market.

f. Highly competitive and demands excellence in performance.

g. Requires continuous up gradation of knowledge and skill enhancement.

Many quality specialists have advocated the application of TQM in education. The logic is

reasonably direct.TQM has worked successfully in promoting improved product quality.

Educational institutions are service providers. Therefore for application of TQM in education, a

better understanding of the term education quality is essential.

B.Mahadevappa (2006)159

, in the article „The Meaning of Education Quality‟ list the e

principal approaches to defining education quality are:

1. Excellence: Education quality is the goodness or excellence of education delivery. It is

both absolute and universally recognizable, a mark of uncompromising standards and

high achievement.

2. Value: Education quality is the degree of excellence at an acceptable price or cost.

3. Conformance to curriculum: Education quality means conformance to curriculum, it is

the degree to which education delivery confirms to curriculum.

4. Meeting and exceeding stakeholders‟ expectations: Education quality is defined as the

extent to which an educational service is meeting and exceeding the expectations of

students and stakeholders.

3.6. ENGINEERING EDUCATION IN INDIA

India is a federal republic of 28 states and seven union territories. Education is managed

through a partnership of the central and state governments. The central government establishes

broad education policies and is responsible for regulating and maintaining standards in higher

education. The central policies serve as guidelines to the state governments, which administer

most colleges and universities within their jurisdictions.

With the second largest population in the world, India is characterized as one of the rapidly

expanding economies of the world, with its stable and democratic political system. Apart from

steady economic growth at the national level, it has been observed that India has made

considerable progress regarding the development of higher education in general, and engineering

and technology education in particular, over the last five decades. India‟s vast and diverse higher

education system comprises of nearly 310 universities, which are either unitary or affiliating. Out

of these, 131 universities in the country are affiliating type and they together affiliate around

15,500 colleges with the total student enrolment around 9.5 million.

The engineering and technology education is provided at three different levels, namely;

diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate courses. The engineering diploma courses are mostly

of three years‟ duration after 10 years of formal education. Recently, the state governments have

granted academic autonomy to many government-aided polytechnics, which have designed and

introduced their own curricula. The remaining institutions have a common syllabus that is

formulated, designed and controlled by the individual states. Diploma holders tend to be middle

level technocrats and are suitable on the production floor or in the maintenance department, at a

supervisory level.

The undergraduate engineering courses in the country are of four years‟ duration after 12

years (10+2) of higher secondary education. Several states governments have introduced

Common Entrance Test for the admission of undergraduate engineering courses.

The main source of funding for public universities and colleges comes from the central and

state government in the form of grants, with a small percentage derived from fees. Indian

education observers frequently note that many higher education institutions are underfunded,

especially in the technical sector, where labs and classrooms are often poorly resourced and

understaffed.

Facilities for education in engineering, technology and management have expanded

considerably since Independence. Whereas there were only 44 engineering degree level

institutions in the country at the time of Independence with a total intake capacity of 2570, on

31 August 2007 there were 1668 AICTE approved engineering degree level institutions with

student annual admission capacity of 653,290. In addition professional education is available

annually at the first degree level in Pharmacy for 52,334 students in 854 institutions, in hotel

management and catering technology for 5272 in 81 institutions, in general management (MBA/

PGDBM) for 121,867 students in 1149 institutions, in master of computer applications for 70,513

in 1017 institutions, and in architecture for 4543 students in 116 institutions. At the post-graduate

level in engineering there are 1983 programs in 483 institutions with an enrolment capacity of

36052 students. Much of the expansion in technical education facilities has occurred during the

Ninth and Tenth Plan periods due primarily to government policy support for encouraging private

investment in the field. During the Tenth Plan period, the degree level institutions went up from

1057 to 1459 with an annual intake capacity going up from 295,796 to some 550,000 an increase

of some 80% in less than five years. The private sector continues to be a major player in technical

education with its current share in engineering today being close to 86%. Table1 shows the

growth of number of engineering degree institutions in the country during 1997-98 to 2008-2009,

annual growth rate of institutions and the sanctioned intake capacity (there is a slight mismatch of

data from MHRD Annual Report160

and Banerjee and Muley Report161

).

While there is no consistency in the annual growth rate of institutions, the sanctioned

intake capacity has nearly doubled in the last five years.

In the last two years the demand situation appears to have gone berserk (AICTE- approved

engineering degree level institutions have gone up in 2008-09 by over 40% to 2388 with the

annual sanctioned intake capacity going up by more than 25% to over 820,000 students, while the

new request for approval for the 2009-10 session is reported to be another 880 institutions). This

sudden jump in rate of growth could be attributed to the continuing attractiveness of degree

level programs for employment of graduates in the growing economic environment, but this could

also be due to increasing confidence of the private sector in investing resources in engineering

education for getting fairly high returns on investment.

Table.3.1: Growth of Engineering Degree Level Institutions

YEAR No. of institutions Annual% increase Sanctioned

Intake

1997-98 562 ----- 1,34,894

1998-99 644 14.6 Na

1999-00 755 17.2 Na

2000-01 821 8.7 Na

2001-02 1057 28.7 Na

2002-03 1195 13 3,59,721

2003-04 1263 5.7 4,39,689

2004-05 1358 7.5 4,59,407

2005-06 1476 8.7 5,17,018

2006-07 1522 3.1 na

2007-08 1668 9.6 6,53,290

2008-09 2388 43.2 8,20,000

Source: Annual Report MHRD 2006-07, data from AICTE and Banerjee & Muley of IITB Report Engineering

Education in India 2007

While the increase in the number of engineering institutions in the last few years has

opened the doors for increasing the trained manpower pool for the economy, challenges of

increasing access with equity, reducing regional imbalance, and improving and assuring

quality of offerings continue to remain areas of major concern.

3.6.1. Access

The accelerating growth of the Indian economy, between 8-9 % p.a., has generated

increased annual demand of qualified engineers in construction, manufacturing and service

sectors, so much so that employers are already reporting shortages both in the core industries as

well as the IT sector. The Nasscom-Mckinsey Report (2005) made a forecast of a shortage of

some 500000 engineers in the IT and ITES sector alone by 2010. When this is coupled with the

demand of Indian engineers in other parts of the world, even the present high rate of expansion

(average of some 14% per year during the last ten years) may prove to be inadequate.

The reported decision of the Government to raise the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) of Higher

education from the present 10% to 15% by the end of the 11Plan and 22% by the end of the

12Plan would in itself need a higher rate of growth of engineering education in the country during

the next decade, since engineering and medicine are the preferred disciplines for admission to

higher education in the Country. Although the proposed expansion and the rate of growth in

Higher Education facilities are most welcome as they would help meeting the growing demands

of an economy which is poised to reach the double digit rate of growth, India is still lagging far

behind in the production of S&T manpower when compared to those of other countries: India

having 3.5 S&T personnel per 1000 population against China having 8.1, South Korea 45.9,

USA55, Germany 76, Israel 76 and Japan 110.If India has to emerge as a developed

industrialized nation, it has to expand access to professional education many fold.

3.6.2. Equity

In addition to the need for increasing access to engineering education to a larger number

of students graduating from senior secondary schools (+2 schools), there is also a major question

of equity, most of the engineering students come from affluent urban families and equal

opportunities for seeking professional education are denied to those coming from rural homes,

from low-income families, or to those who come from disadvantaged groups-women, scheduled

castes, scheduled tribes and other backward classes. Although there have been reservations for

seats in public institutions for SC/ST candidates for a long time and scholarships are awarded to

all students of this category admitted to these institutions to meet their educational and living

expenses, the participation of this group in engineering is still very limited when the whole of the

engineering education system is considered(there is presently no reservation in private institutions

which control 86% of the enrolment) The recent decision of the Government to extend the

reservation benefits to other backward classes in central institutions is intended to improve equity.

However the question of assisting eligible students from poorer families who do not have access

to support through grant of soft loans to be recovered after their employment continues to be a

problem to be tackled much more purposefully than being done at present.

The U.R. Rao Committee Report,(2007)162

a five-member committee headed by U.R. Rao,

a prominent scientist and former chairman of the India Space Research Organization, was

established by the MHRD to review the performance of the AICTE. Submitted to the

government in September 2003, the committee‟s report, Revitalizing Technical Education,

describes a technical sector that is expanding at an unsustainable level and is in drastic need of

regulation to ensure academic standards are improved.

The report‟s main findings and recommendations to the centre in the following areas are:

a. Too many institutions due to unregulated growth, especially in the private sector.

b. Institutions are proliferating in geographical pockets, leading to oversupply in some

markets and shortages in others.

c. Shortage of qualified faculty, and not nearly enough doctorates coming through the

system.

d. Weak quality assurance structures, especially accreditation procedures.

e. Lack of cooperation and interaction between industry and the classroom.

f. High levels of unemployment and underemployment among engineering graduates.

g. The growth rate of graduates produced is far exceeding the economy‟s growth rate.

Despite a projected labour crunch in certain sectors, the rate of unemployment or

underemployment among first-level engineering graduates is significant. When compared to

annual economic growth of 6 percent to 8 percent, Rao‟s report argues that an annual graduation

growth rate of 15 to 25 percent among engineering students is unsustainable. High levels of

unemployment are entirely the result of oversupply. The committee points out that there needs to

be greater interaction between industry and the education system so that institutions of higher

education can better understand the manpower needs of the marketplace and tailor their

academic programs accordingly, especially in the areas of service sector and information

technology.

Engineering and technology drive development and growth. Technology will increasingly

be the currency of power which will transform the economy, as it is the practitioners of this

profession who create wealth and hence contribute to the welfare and prosperity of the country.

For a healthy growth of the engineering profession, proper policies are necessary to nurture and

guide the growth of technical education. Historically we had Radhakrishnan Commission

(1948)163

and Kothari Commission Report (1964-66)164

addressing to education policies.

Kothari Commission Report recorded that “Indian Education needs a drastic reconstruction,

almost a revolution”. Unfortunately we have not witnessed any drastic reconstruction, let alone a

revolution. Most of what has changed in education system is through sporadic responses to

emerging situations. NPE (National Policy on Education 1986) in the beginning, on the other

hand, saw several changes of the Central Government. It went through a review even before it

was fully implemented. Acharya Ramamurti‟s Report (1990)165

, PPE (Perspective Paper on

Education 1990) followed. AICTE Act was passed in 1987 mostly in response to the menace of

the so-called capitation fee. The menace was indeed contained for a while but has returned in

more subtle forms and is becoming pervasive.

The technical education benefits not only the students but also the employers and the

society at large. While a lot of debate has gone on the support of higher education by the

Government, the fact remains that in real terms the support has dwindled continually. The

demand for higher technical education has progressively and substantially increased resulting in

the establishment of a large number of self-financed technical institutions. At present nearly 80

percent of annual intake of engineering students is in self financed institutions. NPE 1986 and

PPE 1990, both are silent on policy issues related to the role of private initiatives in higher

education. The growth of private institutions, providing professional education, dominantly in

engineering disciplines, is dispensed in the country without a tangible national policy. Education

is a concurrent subject and without a national policy, it receives very diverse dispensation from

the concerned regulatory authorities of the Central and State Governments.

Presently there are very few technical institutions, which provide quality technical

education, whereas in many others, the quality of education is a matter of more serious concern.

While the demand and supply situation of engineering graduates is satisfactory in terms of

quantity, today‟s young generation has to cope with indifferent quality of education in a large

number of institutions. The policy framework governing higher technical education appears to be

so gray that a conflict is generally perceived between student aspirations, Governmental

priorities and institutional goals. This situation affects the objectives of quality education.

3.6.3. Regional Imbalance

Unfortunately, the recent expansion of facilities has created not only the problem of

maintaining high quality of education, it has also increased regional imbalance of educational

facilities. The facilities for engineering education is so badly distributed in the country- that

63.6% of the UG seats and 62% of the PG Seats are available in only three of the seven regions of

the country namely the Southern, the South Western and the Western. Further nearly 60%of

engineering graduates and post-graduates come from only 4 states, Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh,

Karnataka and Maharashtra.

While it is not possible to drastically reduce the imbalance of technical education facilities

in one plan period, much could be achieved by a declared policy of reducing this imbalance

through pro-active State intervention for which a special fund needs to be created in each plan

period for the 10, 11th and 12th plan, and the programme of implementation reviewed after each

plan.

While the number of technical institutions has exploded across the country, it has occurred

only in some geographic pockets. The four southern states and Maharashtra combined are home

to almost 60 percent of the country's engineering institutions. Compare this to the eastern and

northern states, which are home to just 16 percent of the total. In terms of undergraduate

enrollment, the divide is even more apparent. Nationally, an average of 350 students per million

people enter technical degree programs; in the south the figure is 1,047; southwest 689; west

486; east 131; and in the north just 102 students per million people enter technical degree

programs. Hence the education system in the technical sector is failing to match the demands of

the workplace and a lack of regulation and planning by the AICTE has allowed for geographical

pockets of oversupply and undersupply in technical manpower.

3.6.4. Growth of Private-Commercial Providers

There has been a rapid expansion of the higher education system during the past two decades

which was achieved mainly through private investments as the successive governments have

reduced their investments in higher education. Considering the growing demand for further

expansion of private institutions a large number of colleges and university-level institutions,

including deemed universities and private universities established through State legislation, have

come into existence in recent years.

The increasing trend towards privatization of higher education was primarily due to the

influencing factors of system‟s enrolment capacity, programme focus, regional balance, and

ownership pattern, modes of delivery, and degree of regulation, quality and credibility as well as

the social concerns of inclusiveness.

To begin with there was no policy or guidelines to measure the competence of the investor

in starting and managing a technical institution other than the requirement that it should be

registered as a non-profit or charitable trust or society. This clause was exploited by many

investors, who have no understanding or experience of the responsibilities associated with higher

educational institutions. The trusts or societies that were formed largely consisted of immediate

family members- some of whom had little or no educational background, with some exceptions.

All investments on the institution and all appointments and service conditions and, to a

considerable extent, most decisions on admission of students in the management quota were

under the control of such family trusts or societies. The principal or the other academic staff

members were mostly excluded from these processes. They were asked to mind only the

requirements of the university in terms of syllabus and examinations.

In many private educational institutions, the appointment of teachers is made at the lowest

possible cost. They are treated with scant dignity, thereby turning away competent persons from

opting for the teaching profession. A limited number of senior positions are filled at attractive

salaries, especially from other reputed institutions, mainly for prestige. Otherwise, there are

many horrible instances of faculty being asked to work in more than one institution belonging to

the management; their salary being paid only for nine months; actual payments being much less

than the amount signed for; compelling them to award pass marks in the internal examination to

the “favourites” and so on.

It is true that in order to reach the goals of doubling the higher education capacity from the

present level, it will be necessary to encourage participation of the private sector. Governments

alone will not be able to cope with this demand. At the same time, governments cannot afford to

abandon the responsibility for further augmentation of the existing capacity entirely to the

private sector. From the experiences gained during last two decades, there are sufficient pointers

to orient the higher education system towards a more respectable and credible system than what

exists at present.

The expansion in higher education has been particularly rapid in the past two decades, with

student enrollment growing at about 5 percent annually over the past two decades, a growth rate

that is about two-and-half times the population growth rate. Recent growth is much greater in

professional colleges, especially engineering, management and medicine, as well as in private

professional courses catering especially to the IT sector.

The responsibility for the establishment and monitoring of the performance of this large

variety of institutions has been exercised by many different statutory regulatory bodies as well as

governments and universities, often leading to multiplicity of authorities and duplication of

inspection and control. In this process, the need for stimulating innovations of curricula,

experimenting with the approaches to teaching and learning, and establishing meaningful links

with the society have rarely been emphasized.

Given the national aspirations to promote a knowledge society, it is essential that the

regulatory system propel the growth in the right direction. A well-designed regulatory system

will also help to promote a high degree of professionalism in managing higher education

institutions.

The higher education institutions in India are regulated by many statutory agencies such as

University Grants Commission (UGC), All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE),

Medical Council of India (MCI), Bar Council of India (BCI), Council of Architecture (COA),

National Council on Teacher Education (NCTE), Indian Nursing Council (INC), Pharmacy

Council of India, and so on. In addition, there are regulations of the institutions by Central and

State universities as well as by the Directorates of College and Technical Education. Each of the

regulatory agencies is governed by its own individual Acts.

The regulatory provisions of the various Acts are substantially different from each other

since they were created at different periods by different ministries. The overall responsibilities

for the entire higher education system assigned to the UGC are not validated in the provisions of

other Acts. There is very little co-ordination among the statutory bodies in respect of degree

durations, nomenclatures, approval mechanisms, accreditation process etc. There are various

stages of regulation such as approval, recognition, affiliation and accreditation.

A highly over-regulated system consists of interference by multiple agencies which tend to

curb innovation and creativity, increase inefficiency and breed corruption and malpractices; on

the other hand an under-regulated system encourages exploitation, contributions to disorder and

erosion of social justice. Therefore, it is important to design a balanced regulatory system that is

transparent and ensures accountability.

3.7. GROWTH PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION IN ANDHRA PRADESH

The state of Andhra Pradesh has witnessed a mammoth growth in offering technical

education, the total number of institutions offering professional education at diploma, graduation

and post graduation levels is 1,574 with an intake of 3, 11,285 .

There are 535 engineering colleges with an intake of 1,76,512 which account for 34% of

professional colleges; 187 polytechnic colleges with an intake of 42,235 which account for 12%

of the professional colleges; 258 B.Pharmacy colleges with an intake of 15,395 which account

for 16% of the professional colleges; the post graduate course of MBA has 224 colleges and

MCA has 370 colleges, with an intake of 44,485 and 42,235 seats, which account for 14% and

24% respectively as tabulated in table 3.2.

Table 3.2: Professional Colleges for the year 2008-09

S.No. Programme No. of Colleges Total Intake

1 Engineering Colleges 535 176512

2 B-Pharmacy Colleges 258 15395

3 MBA Colleges 224 32658

4 MCA Colleges 370 44485

5 Polytechnic Colleges 187 42235

TOTAL 1574 311285

(Source: DTE, Hyderabad)

3.7.1. Engineering Education in Andhra Pradesh

In the pre-independence days of India and up to the formation of Andhra Pradesh there

were only three Engineering colleges with the three basic fields of Civil Engineering,

Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering. The three institutes were (1).The

Engineering College of Osmania University, Hyderabad, (2).The Government Engineering

college, Anantapur, and (3).The Government Engineering College, Kakinada. The total intake

capacities of these three institutes were 140 in Civil engineering, 120 in Mechanical engineering

and 120 in Electrical engineering. The number of engineering colleges has become 7 in 1956, 9

in 1960, 10 in 1965, 11 in 1970 and 12 in 1980. Government has not started any more

engineering colleges since 1980, but permission has been accorded to private management to

start engineering colleges from 1977 onwards. There were 10 private engineering colleges in

1980 and 15 in 1985.

Andhra Pradesh consists of three regions – the coastal districts namely Srikakulam,

Viziayanagaram, Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur and Prakasam

are under Andhra University region; Rayalaseema districts namely Anantapur, Kurnool,

Kadapa, Chittoor and Nellore are under Sri Venkateswara University region and the remaining

Telangana districts namely Adilabad, Nizambad, Karimnagar, Warangal, Medak, Rangareddy,

Mahabubnagar, Nalgonda, Khammam and Hyderabad are under Osmaina University region.

The state of Andhra Pradesh witnessed a phenomenal growth in the number of

institutions imparting engineering education at graduate level since 1997. The growth is about

722% by 2005 (267) compared to (37) 1996, and 241 % by 2009 (645) compared to 2005 (267)

.The growth is completely in the private sector. The government or universities have not started

any engineering college since 1985. The growth was very significant during 2008, 2009 and

2010 with sanction of 55, 198 and110 new engineering colleges respectively in private sector.

3.7.2. Sanction of New Engineering Colleges

The details of engineering colleges sanction in three regions of the state during the last five

years starting with 2004-05 to 2008-09. This is a phenomenal growth in which the Osmania

region had a lion‟s share in the sanctioned colleges. The majority of these colleges are affiliated

to the JNT University, Hyderabad. (The region selected for study), are placed in table 3.3 and

illustrated in figure 3.1.

Table 3.3: Number of Engineering Colleges in last 5 years

Region 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09

A.U.Region 2 5 6 23 79

O.U.Region 15 19 9 24 77

S.V.U.Region 1 1 4 11 42

TOTAL 18 25 19 58 198

(Source: DTE, Hyderabad)

Fig 3.1: Region wise growth in Engineering Colleges in last 5 years

3.7.3. Status of Engineering Education

The government decision to encourage private participation in the engineering education

has led to the growth of Private Unaided Colleges and there by not much initiative was taken to

enhance the government funded institutions. The institutions offering engineering education can

be classified as University Colleges, Private Unaided Colleges and Minority Colleges and this

account for 2%, 13% and 85% respectively as shown in table 3.4., and through Pie chart in figure

3.2.

Table 3.4: Type of colleges - Govt/Private/Minority wise - 2008-2009

S.No Type of Colleges No. of Colleges No. of Seats

1 University Colleges 13 3,335

2 Private Unaided Colleges 452 1,48,635

3 Minority Colleges 70 24,542

Total 535 1,76,512

(Source: DTE, Hyderabad)

The private unaided colleges which are run by the private societies have the largest intake of

1,48,635 followed by the minority colleges with an intake of 24,542. Fig.3.2. illustrates the

number of seats/intake of 3 types of engineering colleges in the state.

Fig 3.2: Classification of Engineering Colleges – 2008-09

3.7.4. Region wise distribution of Engineering Education

Andhra Pradesh consists of three regions namely – Telangana, Andhra and Rayalaseema.

The Telangana region has recorded the highest number of engineering college‟s i.e.265 and

thereby the numbers of seats offered are 88712 during the academic year 2008-09. The

distribution of colleges and their intake is shown in table 3.5and illustrated in figure3.3.

Table 3.5: Number of engineering colleges region wise -2008-09

Region No. of Colleges No. of Seats

TELANGANA 265 88,712

ANDHRA 176 58,085

RAYALASEEMA 94 29,715

Total 535 1,76,512 (Source: DTE, Hyderabad

Fig 3.3: Number of engineering colleges region wise -2008-09

3.7.5. District wise distribution of Engineering Education

1. Andhra University Region

The district wise number of colleges and their corresponding intake with regard to engineering

colleges and polytechnics of the regions of Andhra University are placed in table 3.6.

Table: 3.6: District wise Data, Andhra University region-2008-09

S.No District Engineering Polytechnic

Colleges Intake Colleges Intake

1 WEST GODAVARI 23 7560 7 3240

2 VIZIANAGARAM 11 3525 6 1980

3 VISAKHAPATNAM 21 7430 7 1800

4 SRIKAKULAM 8 2730 2 420

5 PRAKASAM 17 5490 5 1970

6 KRISHNA 34 10800 13 4780

7 GUNTUR 40 13500 7 2240

8 EAST GODAVARI 22 7050 5 1795

AU REGION TOTAL 176 58085 52 18225

(Source: DTE, Hyderabad)

2. Osmania University Region

The district wise number of colleges and their corresponding intake with regard to engineering

colleges and polytechnics of the region of Osmania University are placed in table 3.7.

Table: 3.7: District wise Data, Osmania University region-2008-09

S.No District

Engineering

Polytechnic

Colleges Intake Colleges Intake

1 ADILABAD 2 540 4 740

2 HYDERABAD 22 8270 11 2910

3 KARIMNAGAR 17 5100 4 720

4 KHAMMAM 20 6390 4 1320

5 MAHABUBNAGAR 5 1770 2 840

6 MEDAK 21 6857 5 780

7 NALGONDA 34 10375 5 900

8 NIZAMABAD 8 2475 4 880

9 RANGAREDDY 120 41820 4 1200

10 WARANGAL 16 5115 5 1440

OU REGION TOTAL 265 88712 48 11730

(Source: DTE, Hyderabad)

3. Sri Venkateshwara University Region

The district wise numbers of colleges of Venkateshwara University region are placed in table

3.8.

Table: 3.8: District wise Data, Sri Venkateshwara University region-2008-09

S.No District

Engineering Polytechnic

Colleges Intake Colleges Intake

1 ANANTAPUR 13 3460 6 1120

2 CHITTOOR 27 8540 9 2215

3 KADAPA 16 5250 11 2590

4 KURNOOL 19 5835 7 1630

5 NELLORE 19 6630 5 1110

TOTAL 94 29715 38 8665

3.7.6. Growth of Facilities for Engineering Education

The growth of sanctioned intake of students into engineering colleges since 1996 is shown

in table: 4.8. Compared to 1985 (4430), the intake has doubled by 1996, and tripled by 1997 and

has increased to 442% by 1998, 540% by 1999, 625% by 2000, 1000% by 2001. The increase in

intake in 2006 in comparison to 1985 is about 20 times, Compared to 2006 (92,600), the intake

has doubled by 2009.166

The major growth was in disciplines of Computer Science and Engineering intake was

17665 in 2006, increased to 48780 in 2009, Electronics and Communication Engineering intake

was 21176 in 2006, increased to 55230 in 2009, Electrical and Electronics intake was 15636 in

2006, increased to to33515 in 2009 and Information Technology intake was 9063 in 2006,

increased to 27520 in 2009 There are few disciplines like, Civil Engineering, Mechanical

Engineering etc., also contributed to the growth of intake. The intake in Civil Engineering

discipline has recorded an increase in intake during 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004 and presently the

intake is 12505 and the present intake of Mechanical Engineering discipline is 14575. This is due

to sanction of new branches and increase in intake to some of the established colleges by the

AICTE. ATMR, NTMIS, Hyderabad, (2008).167

Number of disciplines in engineering at graduate level also recorded phenomenal growth

since 1985. The number of disciplines rose from just 3 in 1951 to 11 in 1965 and 12 in 1985.

The number of disciplines was increased to 20 by 1995 and the number of colleges to 32. By the

year 2000 the numbers of colleges were increased to 107 with 31 disciplines. At present during

2009-10 the numbers of colleges are 645 with 32 disciplines. Table 3.9 shows the growth pattern

of engineering colleges and seats/intake in the state of Andhra Pradesh from the academic year

1996-97 up to 2009-10.

Table: 3.9: Growth of Engineering colleges (1996-2010)

Sl. No. YEAR

Engineering

Colleges Intake

1 1996-97 37 10455

2 1997-98 57 14155

3 1998-99 89 19773

4 1999-00 102 25064

5 2000-01 107 30896

6 2001-02 174 46090

7 2002-03 217 62710

8 2003-04 225 65960

9 2004-05 238 82225

10 2005-06 262 92600

11 2006-07 282 98793

12 2007-08 337 118993

13 2008-09 530 174742

14 2009-10 645 240000

3.8. SWOT ANALYSIS

Self-assessment is often performed through a SWOT analysis. SWOT is an acronym for

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats; it refers to the internal strengths and

weaknesses of an organization or institution, and the environmental opportunities and threats

facing the organization. SWOT analysis involves a systematic identification of these factors and

the strategy that reflects the best match between them. It is based on the premise that an effective

strategy maximizes an institution's strengths and opportunities, but at the same time minimizes its

weaknesses and threats. Ideally, an institution should build on its strengths, and exploit the

opportunities.

Strength is a resource, skill or other advantage relative to competitors; it is a distinctive

competence that gives the institution a comparative advantage, such as image, financial/physical/

human resources, etc. A weakness is a limitation or deficiency in resources, skills, and capabilities

that seriously impedes effective performance. An opportunity is a major favorable situation in the

Institution's environment. A threat is a major unfavorable situation in the institution's

environment.

A major challenge in using SWOT analysis is in identifying the position the Institution

actually is in. The value of the analysis does not rest solely on careful placement of an Institution

in one particular cell. The SWOT analysis helps resolve one fundamental concern in selecting a

strategy.168

3.8.1. SWOT Analysis of Technical Education System

A detailed analysis of the technical education system‟s strengths and weaknesses, and the

resulting opportunities and threats are beyond the scope of the present study. Researcher lists

some common observations in critical areas, applicable to majority of institutions, based on the

available literature and views expressed by experts.

3.8.1.1. Policy Planning

Promotion and maintenance of standards has always been the focus of the educational

planners and policy makers. Hither to they have the traditional methods of inspection, regulation

and statutory obligations of internal academic audit by the institutions. Very recently, based on

the recommendations of the New Educational Policy (1992), External Quality Assurance

mechanisms were conceived and established for higher education at the national level. Presently,

there are two such national accrediting agencies functioning viz., National Assessment and

Accreditation Council (NAAC) which assesses and accredits the entire higher education system

except the technical education and the National Board of Accreditation (NBA) which accredits

the technical education. NAAC assesses and grades all the post secondary system of education at

the Institutional level, while the NBA does it at the program level of the technical educational

offerings. It has now become mandatory for both the general and technical education institutions

to get accredited whether it is public or private. Norms and standards have been fixed by AICTE

for creation of infrastructure and appointment of faculty with prescribed qualifications, NBA of

AICTE are also accrediting institutes with a view to create external pressure to bring the

institutes to a minimum level of acceptance. These external pressures should be utilized by the

management to create internal motivation within the institutions. Otherwise, external pressures

will have only temporary effects particularly to the intangible quality control aspects. Interests of

the management and those of the faculty, and students have to be seen holistically. For creating a

progressive outlook, the management has to be given exposure and ideas. Opportunities and

threats have to be realized. Ideas like composite institutions, diversification of courses, the return

on investment on quality both short-term and long term, have to be presented through case

studies, project proposal, study visits, etc. Falling admission to not so good institutions should be

taken as a signal requiring qualitative improvement Quality improvement initiatives are a must in

Technical Education system in India to prepare both students and technical teachers not only for

local employment but also for employment in the global market. Therefore, the aim must be to

achieve international standers in all respect. The strengths and weaknesses of policy planning

are presented in the table 3.10and opportunities and threats in table 3.11.

Table 3.10: Strengths & Weaknesses of Policy Planning

Strengths Weaknesses

1).Institutional mechanisms like UGC, AICTE, and

Planning Commission exist for formulating policies and

plans, and for ensuring quality in T.E.

2).Periodic review of T.E.at national and state level.

1).Expansion rarely related to labour market

demand, more on political pressure or regional

aspirations.

2).UGC and AICTE‟s powers for control and

regulation are not effective.

3). Limited role of private sector, professional

societies, national academics in policy formulation

and implementation.

Table 3.11: Opportunities & Threats of Policy Planning

Opportunities Threats

1).Linking technical education with national

development

2).Expanding knowledge base and strengths for

increasing India‟s share in the international market

place.

1).Other countries attracting Indian students for their

higher education system.

2).Non availability of high level expertise in emerging

areas will affect development.

3.8.1.2. Economic aspect

The need to augment the engineering education enterprise with the decreasing

government support has resulted in encouraging private initiatives in engineering education.

With the experience of the flawed and ineffective public enterprises in many sectors,

privatization of engineering education is viewed as a strategy to facilitate the process to reach

higher levels of competitive efficiency. This leads to higher financial implications to students

and parents, who opt for the benefits of the educational service of those institutions.

Beneficiaries of these private initiatives critically evaluate the quality and worth of educational

services and only those institutions that pass this test of social accreditation are able to survive.

Families that view this as „sharing of educational cost in the absence of government support‟ is

on the increase and consequently many self-financing engineering colleges have come up

recently. In the years to come these institutions will become more and more competitive and they

will also grow to a much larger proportion than what is now in comparison to governmental and

grant-in aid institutions. The strengths and weaknesses of finance and funds are presented in the

table 3.12 and opportunities and threats in table 3.13.

Table 3.12: Strengths & Weaknesses of Economic aspect

Strengths Weaknesses

1).Cost of technical education is relatively lower

than in other countries.

2).Government support liberally and majority of

institutions are publicly funded.

1).Public financing becoming difficult leading to

non-viable support to technical education.

2).Private investment limited to

professional courses.

Table 3.13: Opportunities & Threats of Economic aspect

Opportunities Threats

1).Increasing the cost recovery substantially.

2).Reduction of wastage in terms of resource

consumption.

1).Inadequate resources affect quality of education

with consequential effects on national development

and international competitiveness.

3.8.1.3. Administrative aspect

All institutions in India work under some legal framework-central or state Acts and

statutes, memorandum of Association, Societies Registration Act, etc., the objectives, functions,

and operational methods, including procedures for disciplinary action, are often specified in

these documents. While procedural audit is carried out in minute details, there is no systematic

evaluation of institutional performance. There is no feedback from lower levels to higher ones,

no feedback by students on the courses taught, no evaluation by teachers of the course

prescribed. There is also no opportunity for evaluation of administrators or administrative

policies by any person affected by them, table 3.14 put forth the strengths & weaknesses and

table 3.15 lists the opportunities and threats of administration.

Table 3.14: Strengths & Weaknesses of Administration

Strengths Weaknesses

1).Fairly well structured administrative system with

reasonably democratic governance.

1).Number of employees much larger than needed due

to obsolete procedures and lack of mechanization.

2).Decentralization of powers is ineffective.

3).Absence of incentive or reward system for good

work.

4).Lack of control on wasteful expenditure.

Table 3.15: Opportunities & Threats of Administration

Opportunities Threats

1).Improving cost-effectiveness, efficiency and

quality.

2).Improving information flow

1).Frustration amongst teachers, students and staff

due to lack of fair and transparent decision making

which could disrupt academic activities, lowering

of the image of the institution.

3.8.1.4. Infrastructural aspect

Good Teaching-learning practices, transparent teacher evaluation and reward system,

encouragement for innovations and development work, sponsored research work, and

institutional and individual consultancy work would change the total academic climate of an

institute for betterment. Conduct of continuing education programs for working professionals is

another area which would add to this aspect of improvement. Computation facilities, laboratory

and workshop facilities, library facilities need to be extended beyond the academic routine hours.

Research work will get a boost if research scholars working for higher degrees are made

available in the campus. A clear cut policy enabling consultancy work is framed by the

institution. Table 3.16 lists the strengths and weaknesses and table 3.17 lists the opportunities

and threats in of the infrastructure in engineering education.

Table 3.16: Strengths & Weaknesses of Infrastructure

Strengths Weaknesses

1).UGC and AICTE lay down norms for minimum

necessary infrastructure for all institutions. Funds

provided to upgrade facilities at reasonable intervals

for public institutions.

2).Most public institutions provide some facilities at

corporate living for staff, students and employees.

1).Maintenance of all facilities is generally very poor.

2).Very little sharing of expensive facilities at any

level.

Table 3.17: Opportunities & Threats of Infrastructure

Opportunities Threats

1).Improving utilization factor for all

infrastructures, using appropriate schedules, and

preventive maintenance through contracted

services.

2).Developing concept of virtual laboratories

through simulation in place of expensive

laboratory equipment.

1).Poor quality and low relevance of education due

to obsolescence of workshops, laboratories,

library, and learning environment.

2).Large wastage due to poor utilization of

available facilities.

3.8.1.5. Faculty Resources

The challenge that faces the education environment has always been to ensure that the

quality of teaching and learning is maintained. One possible path for improving the quality of

education lies in the application of the ideas to the teaching and learning (T&L) process.

Employing quality attributes in the education context creates value for educational institutions,

employers, and students. Recruitment of good faculty and their induction, development,

appraisal and reward for retention is a challenge to all the Technical Institutions. If the faculty is

motivated, lot of enthusiasm will see in the campus for innovation, development, good teaching-

learning practices and that of research. The strengths and weaknesses of faculty at present are

placed in the table 3.18 and table 3.19 lists opportunities and threats of faculty in engineering

education.

Table 3.18: Strengths & Weaknesses of Faculty

Strengths Weaknesses

1).Faculty in some institutions are of international

quality.

2).Approved faculty student ratio is fairly high in

technical education.

3).Faculty in a few institutions has access to latest

developments& research

1).Shortage of faculty in most professional

institutions.

2).Low compensation package making teaching

profession unattractive compared to other sectors.

3).Faculty development strategy very sketchy.

4).Career progress is slow for most teachers

leading to dissatisfaction and unrest.

5).Many teachers have no research background,

field experience or exposure to modern

educational technology tools.

6).Teaching loads and other responsibilities are

very high giving little time for personal research,

study or interaction with students.

Table 3.19: Opportunities & Threats of Faculty

Opportunities Threats

1).Faculty molding students‟ career and values

and developing attitudes to life-long learning

through personal example.

2). Training of selected senior students as

teaching assistants.

3).Utilizing the services of working

professionals

1).Talented may not join teaching profession.

2).Quality of education will decline rapidly with the

quality of teachers as poor teachers produce poor

graduates who may become teachers because they can

get no other job and even produce even poorer

graduates.

3.8.1.6. Students

Students are admitted into the engineering education institutions based on their

achievement status in the higher secondary examination, which is conducted at the State or

Country level by the respective State boards or Central Boards of Secondary Education. By and

large, there is a minimal achievement level in terms of scores in the relevant subjects to be

fulfilled to enter into the professional programs of studies like engineering. Many State

governments and the educational institutions conduct their own entrance tests to select the best

out of the eligible applicants. In short there is no dearth of quality students, particularly for the

professional programs of private institutions and there is no reason to discriminate as private

sectors are known to perform better than the public sector ones in any industrial or commercial

undertakings. As most of the private institutions are affiliated to the universities, and as the

students have to write the same common examinations. Table 3.20 lists the strengths and

weaknesses and table 3.21 lists the opportunities and threats of the students in engineering

education.

Table 3.20: Strengths & Weaknesses of Students

Strengths Weaknesses

1).Students entering technical education is of

fairly high scholastic ability.

2).Graduates of the system largely meets the

needs of the economy.

3).All students enjoy intellectual and personal

freedom of thought, belief and action and suffer

no discrimination.

1).Most students accustomed to rote learning for

doing well in examinations and in securing a job,

and lack confidence in their abilities.

2).Students lack opportunity for developing

creativity.

3).Part-time employment of students is not

existing leading to over dependence on parental

support.

4).Absence of career conselling coupled with

serious mismatch between education programs

and labour market demands resulting in large

scale unemployment of qualified manpower.

Table 3.21: Opportunities & Threats of Students

Opportunities Threats

1).Reorienting large number of students to nation

building.

2).Liberalization of economy and its gradual

integration with world economy have opened the

labour market for qualified and enterprising

graduates to work anywhere in the world.

1).Over-emphasis on examination inhibits quest

for knowledge and skills.

2).Educated unemployment may create social

tensions.

3).Talented students may not be attracted to

technical education.

4).Talented students with resources or external

support may prefer to study and settle abroad.

3.8.1.7. Curricula

Curriculum document must include all details and not merely the course content and

evaluation scheme. Identify hard and soft skill requirements for employment; identify generic

skills and specific skills; develop standards for each of the objectives for all the subjects of study.

Table 3.22 lists the strengths and weaknesses and table 3.23 lists the opportunities and threats of

curriculum design and implementation in engineering education.

Table 3.22: Strengths & Weaknesses of Curricula

Strengths Weaknesses

1).Varied curricula available covering nearly all

required courses at graduate, under graduate and

diploma levels.

2).Syllabi of courses in good institutions fairly

modern and comparable to the best in the world.

1).Inflexible and rigid curricula in most

institutions.

5).Expertise in curriculum design is limited.

Table 3.23: Opportunities & Threats of Curricula

Opportunities Threats

1).Integrating knowledge and skill demands of the

market with curricula and course contents.

2).Identifying and developing hidden talents of

students through a sustainable mixture of class room

teaching, self-learning, laboratory exercises, industrial

attachments and real life problem solving.

3).Developing competitive skills, communication skills

through seminars, investigative skills through research

projects.

1).Without frequent curricula revision

meeting the emerging needs of the

marketplace both national and global, the

output of the education system will not be

able to make Indian industry internationally

competitive and Indian economy and policy

vibrant.

3.8.1.8. Evaluation System

Student evaluation system must be valid, reliable, and should be objectively designed.

Emphasis should be on assessing the higher order cognitive skills like ability to think and apply,

ability to analyze and synthesize, and of solving problems. Evaluation of students other

personality trials like ability to work in group and contribute, ability to self learning and

communicating, etc. need also be taken care of in making assessment of students. A monitoring

mechanism must be included to evaluate progress and providing feedback. Table 3.24 lists the

strengths and weaknesses and table 3.25 lists the opportunities and threats in respect of the

evaluation system in engineering education.

Table 3.24: Strengths & Weaknesses of Evaluation System

Strengths Weaknesses

1).Secrecy in end examination operations is

maintained across the system to ensure fair

play.

2).Some good institutions use modern

evaluation techniques and use them as feed

back to correct deficiencies in the teaching –

learning process.

1).Except in some good institutions routine

examination performance is the only parameter for

evaluation of students‟ abilities and effectiveness of

learning process.

2).Examination system is predominantly external with

teachers who teach having little say in setting the

question papers and evaluating the students‟ response.

3).Examinations often memory-based and rarely test

students‟ analytical and problem solving abilities, and

Laboratory training is rarely tested properly.

4).Examinations with ample choice in answering

questions leads to student ignoring some parts of the

syllabi and still qualifying satisfactorily.

Table 3.25: Opportunities & Threats of Evaluation System

Opportunities Threats

1).Developing continuous evaluation mechanisms

and making them integral to the teaching-learning

process.

2).Giving greater responsibilities of evaluation to

teachers who teach and interact directly with

students to give credibility to the process by

making it both fair and transparent.

1).Arbitrariness in evaluation and lack of

transparency can lead to student unrest, and lower

the image of the education system.

The next chapter „Research Methodology‟ discusses the methodology of the study

which includes sampling, the procedures utilized in data collection and data coding and

analysis.