Polytechnic colleges in Tamil Nadu will have a new syllabus from the academic year 2023-24. With an aim to make the students industry ready and more employable, the entire syllabus of the polytechnic colleges has been revamped.
According to Directorate of Technical Education (DoTE) officials, inputs from industry experts and from Tamil Nadu Guidance Bureau have been taken into account to redesign and reform the Polytechnic curriculum. "With the advancement in technology, there is a change in the industry requirements. The need is for skill-based talents to bridge the industry-academic gap. Keeping these factors in mind, new age courses like Mechatronics, Diploma in Logistics Technology and diploma in automobile engineering have been introduced," said the DOTE official.
Polytechnic colleges and their contributions
Polytechnic colleges contribute significantly to the State's talent pool by producing skilled technicians to support mass industrialisation. "The economy of Tamil Nadu is focusing on deep-tech and knowledge-based industries, rather than low-cost labour-intensive talent. So the reformation of the syllabus focuses more on employability and entrepreneurship outcomes," added the DoTE official.
As part of the new syllabus, DoTE has established five Entrepreneurship Development (ED) hubs in five polytechnic colleges in collaboration with Entrepreneurship Development Innovative Institute (EDII), Chennai with 26 programmes related to ED and innovation programmes in the colleges.
The syllabus will nurture the next generation of highly competent individuals who can harness the power of technology, innovation and enterprise to lead change and deliver social and economic impact.
More elective courses?
Along with the introduction of a choice-based credit system (CBCS), DOTE will add more elective courses to make the curriculum more flexible to suit the needs of students. It may be noted that the CBCS had been introduced in engineering courses, but the same had not been done for polytechnic courses in Tamil Nadu.
The CBCS will also enable students to learn at their own pace, undergo additional courses and adopt an interdisciplinary approach to learning. The syllabus will see more sandwich-mode courses (periods of study interspersed with periods of work), to be introduced with support from companies. This will provide hands-on training, and enhance the placement opportunities, said a DOTE official.
