Nov 08, 2005 03:21 PM
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(Updated Nov 08, 2005 03:21 PM)
This is not about NIIT but about computer institutes in general.
Who's your teacher?
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--Brian Pereira (Associate Editor--IC CHIP Magazine)
When was the last time you met a good computer engineer? We're talking about a skilled technician who could fix your computer in a jiffy, instead of experimenting for hours on end, while your work was held up. On the operations and applications side, why is it so hard to find skilled and talented people today? Who is to blame and what are the reasons for the shortage of skilled manpower? I'm convinced that the problem begins at the institutions that train these people. There is a big demand-supply gap between what the various verticals require and what the computer institutes produce.
In the early 1990s computer Institutes were mushrooming by the day. And I worked at some of these institutes as an instructor. The con- (oops) counselors were trained to fill batches. They focused too much on student numbers and batch dates. Most had no formal training in professional counseling. They performed more of a sales function rather than a counseling role. What they should have been doing is paying more attention to job requirements and mapping student aptitudes to courses.
As a result, if you did not have an aptitude for programming, you still ended up doing the one year Masters in Computer applications course (with COBOL and dBase programming included). If you were a secretary, for instance, and just needed to learn the basics of WordPerfect, you could be cajoled into learning Lotus and MS DOS as well. Now here's the other half of the (frightful) story.
In some instances, start dates would be pushed back because they did not have enough students to fill the batch. That would upset personal schedules. And when the course finally did begin, there were other nightmares to contend with. Some would find that their PCs were not functioning or that the required software was missing. Then, as the months went by, an institute would keep shuffling instructors. And when the worst happened (when your instructor left for greener pastures) you were told to ''practice''.
A year ago I switched roles and enrolled for a course in CorelDraw. I was the only student in the batch and happily acknowledged that I was going to get individual attention. My instructor was full of enthusiasm on the first three days; the proprietor flashed his best smile whenever we crossed paths. That lasted until I paid the fees. Then things turned out to be quite different.
The instructor would invariably arrive late and each day's session was shortened to half an hour instead of the promised one hour. Yes, they gave me plenty of practice time, but the instructor was rarely around during practice sessions, and they did not have enough practice exercises.
The instructor would often stop to ponder over the usage of a particular tool or command. He would constantly refer to the book ''Mastering CorelDraw'' in his lap. I often wondered if I made a mistake investing in this course. I could have bought the same book (and would have saved a bundle too).
The focus was too much on menus, commands and toolbars. At times I helplessly wondered how to apply a particular tool in a typical work application. But my instructor wasn't very forthcoming when I asked this question. The course progressed and we moved to advanced topics. And then my instructor kept falling ill and reporting absent. The substitute instructor knew much less.
I finally completed the CorelDraw course after two weeks (one hour a day). That's not too bad considering what others go through. My wife, for instance completed her six months diploma in DTP in about a year and two months. And she had seen many instructors come and go.
This all sounds pretty negative and depressing---but it's the truth. And you'll be stunned to know that it happens at the top notch institutes (names that you can easily recall).
There is a big gap between what various industries require and what the training institutes deliver. To close this gap, we need application-oriented training. The computer institutes need to interface with the various verticals (finance, manufacturing, telecom, travel and hospitality etc) and design projects and practice exercised tailored to industry requirement.
The next time someone tells me that he/she has joined a computer institute, I won't ask which one. Rather I'd enquire about the teacher's experience and domain knowledge. What kind of projects and practice exercised do they have? This is what you should ask the course counselor, upfront.
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