Dist-specific industry courses in govt polytechnic colleges soon

CHENNAI: In a first of its kind, new sandwich diploma courses will be introduced in government polytechnic colleges according to region-wise employment requirements. Each district in the state has a specific industry status. The employment generation will also be there according to the district’s requirements.

After getting feedback from the experts from the industries, who were tied up with the Tamil Nadu government to provide job opportunities for the students, the Higher Education Department has decided to start district-specific diploma courses especially for the polytechnic students to get immediate employment. A senior official from the Higher Education Department told DT Next that Tirupur and its surrounding districts like Karur were involved in the textile and garment business, which exports apparel across the globe.

“Therefore, it has been decided to introduce sandwich diploma courses in weaving and textile technology so that students would get jobs immediately in that district,” he said and pointed out that sandwich courses are higher education courses involving practical work experience in addition to academic study besides the work experience is often referred to as an industrial placement or internship. Claiming that many students would be benefited from region-specific diploma courses, the official said to start with the introduction of industry-aligned new sandwich diploma programmes has been initiated in five government polytechnic colleges in various districts. The official said the syllabus for the courses will be prepared with the help of the state-owned Guidance Tamil Nadu, the nodal agency for investment promotion and single window facilitation, and with other industries.

“As Coimbatore is famous for electronics and its related industry, it has been decided to introduce diploma courses in electronics and communications in a government polytechnic college,” he said, adding “Similarly, a diploma course in instrumentation technology will be introduced in college in Villupuram”.

The HED official also claimed that these new sandwich diploma courses are expected to attract more students.

“At present, only about 20,000 students on average were joining diploma courses in government polytechnic colleges,” he said. The new region-specific courses would attract an additional 20 per cent of the students. The authorities were planning to introduce at least one region-specific course.