No more low employment potential disciplines from 2020-21, says AICTE

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) will not allow new conventional disciplines with low employment potential from the academic year 2020-21 and will permit only emerging fields like Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain, Lok Sabha was informed on Monday.

Responding to supplementaries during the Question Hour, HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank also said that engineering students are being trained so that they can be a part of the 'Make in India' initiative of the government.

In a bid to bridge the gap between industry requirements and courses imparted at engineering institutes, the AICTE has initiated several steps, including compulsory internship for students.

Responding to a question on employability, he said IIT students are employed in 200 of the 500 top companies of the world.

Shashi Tharoor (Cong) claimed there is a mismatch between the demands of the industry and courses being imparted.

He said the mismatch should be removed.

In an apparent dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said if the mismatch is removed then students won't have to be advised to "fry pakoras" to gain employment.

The Congress had earlier also targeted Modi's assertion during a TV interview that selling 'pakodas' was a form of employment.

In his written response, Nishank said the AICTE will not allow new conventional disciplines with low employment potential from the academic year 2020-21 and will allow only new and emerging fields like Artificial Intelligence(AI), Internet of Things(IoT), Blockchain, Robotics, Quantum Computing, Data Sciences, Cyber Security, and 3D Printing and Design.

He also said Smart India hackathons are being organised to encourage innovations so that it can act as a "funnel" for Startup India.