Job skill deficit among students of professional colleges in the State is around 39 per cent, a study done by the ICT Academy of Kerala (ICTAK) has found. The study was conducted at 18 colleges (government and private). ICTAK has 70 member colleges.
Online assessment
The methodology of the study was an online assessment of numerical abilities, verbal skills, logical reasoning skills and IT foundation skills. These tests were given to around 2,500 students attending their sixth semester engineering programme. The results were compared with those of a similar test given to a randomly chosen employees of leading IT companies.
The ICTAK said the average marks of some colleges varied widely. However, it was found that 30 per cent of colleges were ahead in ensuring job opportunities. The situation can be improved if such colleges offer training, according to the study.
Academy CEO Santhosh Kurup told The Hindu that the study had its focus on tier-2 colleges. “Among the top five colleges, three are government colleges, and two, self-financing colleges. The academy has shared the results of the study, including sector-wise scores and individual scores with the member colleges. We have also made suggestions on areas where the institutions need to make improvement,” he said.
The colleges will get six to eight months to offer training programmes to better the performance of their students. The ICTAK will give similar tests to the same students when they reach the seventh semester. The colleges can either choose to engage the ICTAK for training or can work with their current training partners.
