Education system needs overhauling to boost next gen IT

Thinking about unresolved problems and devising out-of-the box solutions must be encouraged in the education system to create more jobs. The question is: can the state take the lead in introducing it from school to college, and beyond and promote innovation? “I believe the next generation of tech masterminds might not come from the US, but could probably come from Chennai. That is the expectation one must build from the youth of the city now,” opines Vijay K Thadani, VC-MD, NIIT. On how NIIT assisted 400 schools enabling their Class 4 students to gain IT exposure, he said, “It was an extremely successful experiment based on which Tamil Nadu helped create a national policy concerning Information and Communication Technology (ICT) at schools. The verve and commitment with which TN led the way, was modelled by schools in other states.”  IT has moved on to the phase of Digital Transformation, pervasively affecting every industry. Projecting this transition as the next wave of specialisation for the IT industry requires a massive rework and new initiatives by policy makers in the education system. The teaching requires a complete revamp. Thadani says digital transformation will hit everyone, be it citizens or workers. Ultimately, everyone will be introduced to these technologies in one form or the other. “I think the National Digital Literacy Mission is making a small dent in helping all of us to use these digital services.” He adds, “Although the software industry has three million digital workers, a majority need reskilling. Will TN allow a student specialising in civil, electrical, computer science, to pick up two or three levels of those subjects and become a multi-disciplinarian? Then, a BTech degree alone will suffice fitting the needs of a digital transformation. The technology curriculum prevalent now is almost redundant. If we start working on the curriculum today, four years later when the engineering students graduate, they will be skilled in those technologies that are relevant to the market of these new times.