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Panel to assess West Bengal's engineering college standards
KOLKATA: The continuous clamour over the falling standards in the state's private engineering colleges has prompted the West Bengal University of Technology (WBUT) to assess their worth.
The university has set up a team of experts from the academia and industry to evaluate the quality of students in these colleges. They will match their observations against students' internal marks. In case of a wide disparity between the two, the colleges will be showcaused.
The experts' panel comprises heads of the computer science and engineering departments of Jadavpur University and Bengal Engineering and Science University and top officials drawn from companies that regularly conduct campus recruitment. "Colleges affiliated to the WBUT have a system of internal marking. In case we find a wide gap between the performance of the students in their colleges and in the examinations conducted by experts, the college will have to give an explanation," said WBUT vice-chancellor Sabyasachi Sengupta.
To begin with, the experts put some basic questions before the top five thirdyear students from the computer science and engineering departments of each of the 70 affiliated colleges. There were questions on algorithms or the significance of root in numerical analysis, considered a must-know for computer science students.
Rote learning a problem: Experts
Top five third-year students from computer science and engineering departments of each of the 70 affiliated colleges faced basic questions on algorithms or the significance of root in numerical analysis.
"Many are good, but some had conceptual problems. Some couldn't even write simple programmes," said Chandan Majumdar, an expert from JU.
The exercise was carried out before the colleges closed for Puja vacation. The team will now collate the data and grade the colleges based on the students' performance.
According to the experts, a problem common to all the colleges was rote learning by students without comprehending the fundamentals. They felt mushrooming of institutes had led to a deterioration of standards and quality was often compromised during admission. Besides, few colleges had the faculty they should.
"The communication skill, understanding, thinking and organising of thoughts and applications of the students were not coherent," a member of the panel said. About 40 per cent of the students from these colleges lacked employability, he said.
"The students were evaluated on their concepts. The viva was not restricted to our syllabus alone. The questions were modelled on recruitment interviews to understand their employability. The marks were awarded to colleges," the vice-chancellor said.
The WBUT will rate the employability of students from other engineering streams too. "Electrical, electronics, mechanical and civil engineering students are next in the line," a WBUT official said.
The university has set up a team of experts from the academia and industry to evaluate the quality of students in these colleges. They will match their observations against students' internal marks. In case of a wide disparity between the two, the colleges will be showcaused.
The experts' panel comprises heads of the computer science and engineering departments of Jadavpur University and Bengal Engineering and Science University and top officials drawn from companies that regularly conduct campus recruitment. "Colleges affiliated to the WBUT have a system of internal marking. In case we find a wide gap between the performance of the students in their colleges and in the examinations conducted by experts, the college will have to give an explanation," said WBUT vice-chancellor Sabyasachi Sengupta.
To begin with, the experts put some basic questions before the top five thirdyear students from the computer science and engineering departments of each of the 70 affiliated colleges. There were questions on algorithms or the significance of root in numerical analysis, considered a must-know for computer science students.
Rote learning a problem: Experts
Top five third-year students from computer science and engineering departments of each of the 70 affiliated colleges faced basic questions on algorithms or the significance of root in numerical analysis.
"Many are good, but some had conceptual problems. Some couldn't even write simple programmes," said Chandan Majumdar, an expert from JU.
The exercise was carried out before the colleges closed for Puja vacation. The team will now collate the data and grade the colleges based on the students' performance.
According to the experts, a problem common to all the colleges was rote learning by students without comprehending the fundamentals. They felt mushrooming of institutes had led to a deterioration of standards and quality was often compromised during admission. Besides, few colleges had the faculty they should.
"The communication skill, understanding, thinking and organising of thoughts and applications of the students were not coherent," a member of the panel said. About 40 per cent of the students from these colleges lacked employability, he said.
"The students were evaluated on their concepts. The viva was not restricted to our syllabus alone. The questions were modelled on recruitment interviews to understand their employability. The marks were awarded to colleges," the vice-chancellor said.
The WBUT will rate the employability of students from other engineering streams too. "Electrical, electronics, mechanical and civil engineering students are next in the line," a WBUT official said.
