Monday, May 6, 2002		Article

Supply is more than the demand
Chandan Singh

Although the progress in hardware and software technologies had already revolutionised the automation process in many walks of day-to-day life, the introduction of IBM PCs and its compatibles changed the automation process dramatically.

The computer technology brought about a huge demand for computer professionals. A new discipline in education at degree and higher level was created. Its initial paradigms were computer science, engineering and applications. With the diversification of the range of applications, mainly in managing information, a new related dimension, called Information Technology (IT), emerged.

A significant increase in the demand of computer professionals emerged since mid nineties. The demand was much more in the USA and in many advanced European countries than in India. At that time there were a few educational institutions in India providing B.Tech, B.E., MCA and M.Tech. in computer science, engineering and applications. Many of the jobs in the USA did not require a sound background in computer science, therefore, many students from other disciplines of engineering found remunerative placement in the USA after undergoing a training of 3 months to 1 year.

The boom in demand for software professionals led to a boom in the opening of new institutions imparting computer education. Courses like BCA, M.Sc (IT), B.Sc. (IT), PGDCA and scores of other diploma and degree level courses were started by these institutions. Many universities even started highly technical courses such as MCA, M.Tech. B.Tech through distance education. The unplanned growth of such courses and institutions and the disregard for the standard, norms and quality as prescribed by the various bodies such as UGC and AICTE have led to a large number of unemployed degree and diploma holders in IT. The number of jobs in IT has shrunk significantly.

The demand in the USA for software professionals has come down heavily due to slowdown of US economy. On the other hand, the number of job seekers in IT is growing day by day.
Many private colleges, companies, franchises and universities are responsible for the present sorry state of the IT education in India. The private companies and private colleges entered in IT education purely due to their commercial interests. Many of them did not have any background in imparting education, nor did they have any social concern. Their prime objective is to earn quick money in short duration of time. The nexus among politicians, university administration and bureaucrats is primarily responsible for the sorry state of IT education in India.

Visit any private college imparting degree or diploma in IT. You will observe a few common things: poor infrastructure in terms of building, classrooms, laboratories, staff rooms, library, canteen and playgrounds. The number of teachers is far less than the prescribed standard by UGC/AICTE. According to UGC norms, for a postgraduate course of two years duration, one professor, two readers and three lecturers are mandatory for a class of 30 students. A college having 90 students in each class of MCA, which is of three years duration, must have faculty strength of 27, by measuring this standard. What to talk of 27 faculty members, you may not find even 10 teachers in such a private college.

Many persons argue that the universities also suffer from shortage of faculty in computer and allied disciplines. They do no realise that the universities can manage this shortage by utilizing the services of visiting faculty from its other departments. Secondly, universities do not have commercial motives in saving money by employing less number of faculties. The fee structure for these colleges is so lucrative that the colleges are earning crores and their expenditure is negligible. Similar situations exist for the courses like BCA, PGDCA, MBIT, M.Sc. (IT) and B.Sc. (IT). With such poor infrastructure what knowledge will the students gain? They will certainly curse their fates when many of them may not find suitable jobs after passing out their degrees. On the other hand what a lucrative business exists for these private colleges and companies without having any business risk.

The primary objective of the universities must be to concentrate on the quality of education in IT. If quality is sacrificed, then all efforts and resources pooled by the university to impart the degrees in IT through these private colleges will be drained out. We must follow an optimal path. Produce only that many IT professionals who can be absorbed in the market. We must remember that the fee structure for IT course is so heavy that if a student does not get a suitable job after passing out the course, he or she will be frustrated, thereby contributing to social unrest. Keeping this aspect in view the following suggestions should be taken into considerations:

(i) Allow only those colleges to start a programme in the IT, which have a fairly good past record of imparting education at degree level.
(ii) Preference should be given to the government colleges, government recognised / funded colleges and private colleges having consistently good past record in imparting education.
(iii) Approval should be given to start a course only after a college creates necessary infrastructure.
(iv) The college must submit its income and expenditure account to the University. The university must ensure that the college spends at least 50 per cent of its income towards the payment of salaries to staff, 20 per cent towards the development of infrastructure, and 20 per cent towards miscellaneous other expenditure. Only 10 per cent of the income may be left unutilised with the college. If a college does not spend 90 per cent of the income earned by it through fees, then the unspent amount must be returned to the University. After all, the college is generating money on account of the degree awarded by the University.

(v) The affiliation to a college must be stopped immediately when it is unable to meet the standards prescribed by the University / UGC / AICTE.