Three mandatory internships: Odisha asks engg colleges for action plan

Bhubaneswar: Odisha government asked the engineering colleges to make action plan to implement Union HRD Ministry’s decision for making three internships mandatory for students during the course from next academic session.

Following a high level meeting chaired by the union HRD additional secretary on December 15, the State Skill Development and Technical Education department directed the authorities of all the engineering colleges to finalize the action plan by selecting the industrial institutions by January 30.

As per the move at the meeting, the engineering college authorities will ensure the students to take part in digital programming competition ‘Smart India Hackathon 2018′ – a unique initiative by the Union HRD Ministry. The Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT) authorities have been asked to make a calender for coaching to the students aiming at least 25% students clear the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE). The students and faculties of all the government engineering colleges will be asked for the registration compulsorily under Study Webs of Active-Learning for Young Aspiring Minds (SWAYAM) and National Knowledge Network (NKN).

In July, the Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar made announcement in the Lok Sabha that the engineering students across the country will have to undergo at least three mandatory internships during their course from this academic year.

The decision has been made for improving the students’ employability prospects. It will be the responsibility of colleges to ensure internship for students.