Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU) Kakinada, has set the ball rolling for reforms in technical education sector.
“We have put in place meticulously planned initiatives that can bring the university to the forefront in the technical education sector,” JNTU Kakinada Vice-Chancellor G. Tulasi Ram Das, said here on Wednesday.
He was addressing an interactive session attended by representatives of the university-affiliated colleges in Krishna district.
After giving a patient hearing to the academic and examination-related issues highlighted by representatives of various college managements, Prof. Tulasi Ram Das, through a power point presentation, unveiled the JNTUK vision comprising powerful initiatives such as introduction of an outcome-based education (OBE), an E-Studio envisaging industry intervention to adopt industry-relevant modules and a fool-proof on-screen evaluation of answer sheets.
Informing that JNTU Kakinada was one of the 15 nodal centres of the National Board of Accreditation across the country, he said how the university conducted a series of workshops for teaching faculty of various disciplines, which was preceded by brain-storming sessions at the university-level. Elaborating on the OBE, he said it was a student-centred method that focussed on empirically measuring student performance, the outcome of the teaching process. “This is quite contrary to the earlier mode of input-based learning wherein the whole focus of the teacher would be on marks or ranks secured by the student regardless of his knowledge.
“We now intend to introduce industry-relevant learning. It does not mean to simply getting the student ready for employment. It is to prepare students for learning for lifetime."
Referring to the existing gloom, he attributed it to the ‘Intermediate corporate sector’. “Students think well up to their 10th class. But as they reach Intermediate, their ability to reflect is ruined,” he said in an obvious reference to a few corporate sector institutions.
New system
Recognising the need to train faculty members, he said the new system envisages several changes to make the classroom more interesting, introduction of virtual labs, new training modules, development of e-learning concept and shifting focus on student-centric learning resources. JNTUC Kakinada has 220 colleges under its fold, comprising mainly of engineering colleges and a few pharmacy and MCA colleges, spread over eight districts in the State. The university team is visiting different districts to get a first hand account of issues nagging technical institutes and also to make them known about the new process that is sure to infuse the much-needed trust and confidence in them.
Besides the Vice-Chancellor, university Registrar G.V.R. Prasada Raju, Director (Admissions) Ch. Sai Babu, Director (Evaluation) Prof. V. Ravindra, Director, Controller of Examination J.V.R. Murthy, Director Training and Placement N. Appa Rao and Controller Ch. Satyanaryana, were present.
