PARAKH Survey by AICTE: Crisis in India's Engineering Education System

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Crisis in India’s Engineering Education System

PARAKH Survey by AICTE: PARAKH Survey was recently released by AICTE which surveys the status of education in various engineering collages of India. It will come under UPSC GS Mains paper 2 syllabus- Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to- Education; Human Resources.

Crisis in India’s Engineering Education System- AICTE Report

A recent survey carried out by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) underlines the crisis plaguing engineering education in the country.

PARAKH Survey by AICTE

About: It was undertaken to evaluate the quality of technical education and identify learning gaps affecting employment prospects of engineering graduates.
- The survey was carried out through a specially designed online test named PARAKH.
Participation in the Survey: in the AICTE Survey, 1.29 lakh students from 2,003 AICTE-approved institutes participated between last September and June 7 this year.
Subjects tested for Survey: Besides an aptitude test for all levels, first-year students were tested on physics, chemistry, maths, while second, third and fourth-year students were assessed on competency in their area of specialisation.
- For third and fourth-year students, the overall scores also took into account their performance in emerging areas such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT).

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Findings of the AICTE Survey

According to the AICTE, first year engineering students, across major disciplines, struggle with mathematics more than any other core subject.
- AICTE found that the foundational learning level in primary classes remains unaddressed in the school education system for a vast majority of students.
- An analysis of the maths, physics and chemistry skill levels of 22,725 first-year students showed that “more emphasis is required for maths study in the engineering domain”
Performance in Maths: It found civil engineering students to be the “lowest performers” in “fundamental subjects”. In maths-
- Civil engineering students scored an average of 37.48%,
- Electronics and communication engineering (ECE) students 38.9%,
- Mechanical engineering students 39.48%,
- Electrical engineering students 40.02%, and
- Computer science engineering (CSE) students 40.12%
Performance in Physics: electrical engineering students were the best performers with an average score of 52.5%, followed by CSE students at 51%, mechanical engineering students at 50%.
Performance in Chemistry: electrical engineering students emerged at the top with an average score of 53.1%, followed by CSE students at 53%, civil engineering students at 51.3%.
Performance in Aptitude test: The report points out that students gradually lose focus on aptitude-related topics such as general knowledge and logical reasoning that companies take into account while hiring.
Overall Performance: The overall report card shows that second-year students were the best performers, while the performance of third and fourth-year students reflected a clear dip.