The biggest challenge in our country was not unemployment but underemployment and there was a need to address it, said Country Head and Managing Director of Foxconn Josh Foulger.
He was addressing senior professors of various institutions at the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Sri City, on Monday, in the second week of the three-week-long leadership for academicians programme (LEAP), an initiative of the Ministry of Human Resource Development to enhance decision-making skills of senior faculty members and encourage them to become future leaders.
Industry-academia gap
Elaborating the significance of the industry-focused higher education, Mr. Foulger said curriculum should be in sync with industry needs. “In the next 10 years, Indian electronics market will see a renewed growth and India should seize opportunities available in the sector,” he said.
Director of the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Tiruchirappalli, Mini Shaji Thomas underlined the need for bridging the industry-academia gap. Academic leaders were expected to work in an environment where targets were to be achieved, she said. Director of IIIT-Sri City G. Kannabiran and Managing Director of Sri City Ravindra Sannareddy spoke at the event. The next week’s programme is scheduled from February 18 to 23 at the Nanyang Technical University, Singapore, as a part of overseas training.
