Attempt to bridge institute-industry gap

CHENNAI: The greatest problem faced by industries in India is not the lack of manpower, but shortage of workers with on-hand experience. To bridge this gap between institutions and the industry, SRM University and Bosch Limited have launched a joint certification training centre.The centre, a brain child of SRM’s Head of Department of Automobile Engineering Leenus J Martin, will be functional in September and will train undergraduate, post graduate, polytechnic, vocational school students and industry personnel.Being Bosch’s first joint venture with an educational institution, Leenus Martin said the programme would be expanded later to make it more industry-friendly.Highlighting the enormity of Indian automobile industry, vice president and head (Automotive Aftermarket) of Bosch Limited, S Muralidharan, said: “We believe that a well trained technician is an asset to the business. We consider it as our social responsibility to impart the same calibre of training that we expect in our company to budding engineers.On why SRM decided to join such a project, vice chancellor of the university M Ponnavaiko said: “A recent study by Tata Institute of Social Sciences states that only 25 per cent of the students are employable or industry-ready. To improve the employability of their graduates, institutions have to focus on reducing the important skill gaps.” The training at the centre would become a part of the curriculum for as many courses as it is apt, and the syllabus would be changed accordingly for the next academic year, Ponnavaiko added. The course would be expanded for other students in a few months time.  Duration of these courses would differ according to their requirement, said Rangaraj, a representative of Bosch Limited.