Alarm bells are ringing over the likely shortage of knowledge workers in India by 2010. While demographics clearly weigh in the country's favour, the quality of the workforce does not. In this scenario, will industry-academia partnerships in higher education bridge the demand-supply gap?
Such alliances are pretty common in the United States. And the trend is now catching up in India, with leading companies forging alliances with universities.
For example, India is short of 59,000 networking professionals and 4,000 tax professionals. That's prompting companies like Cisco and Ernst & Young to come up with programmes which aim to close this gap.
Cisco launched its networking academy programme in 2001 and till date, over 46 universities and 110 engineering colleges have partnered with the networking major in its initiative.
Though the programme is primarily targeted at engineering students, even working professionals can undertake such courses. The demand-supply gap in this field is estimated to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 39%, the highest to be 137,200 professionals by 2009.
"Moreover, 55% of this shortfall will be for professionals with advanced networking skills in the areas of network security and new network developments such as IP telephony and wireless networking.
And if immediate measures are not undertaken, then India stands to lose its edge as a knowledge economy," predicts Lokesh Mehra, regional manager, corporate responsibility, Cisco.
Similarly, Ernst & Young launched its tax associate programme at E&Y Tax Academy in Chennai last year. "With rising income levels and also heightened corporate activity, there is a growing need for skilled tax professionals.
Most tax professionals are CAs and lawyers. It's also been seen that many CAs don't stay put in CA firms. So there is a dearth of good tax professionals in the country," says Gaurav Taneja, partner and national tax director, Ernst & Young, India.
Similarly, software behemoth Infosys Technologies has been running its Campus Connect programme since 2004. "This industry is growing at a scorching pace.
Very soon, companies like us would be hiring huge numbers of professionals every year. So some kind of intervention is required," remarks M P Ravindra, senior vice-president and head, education and research, Infosys Technologies.
The company is currently working with 334 universities and colleges to produce "industry-ready recruits". Accordingly, Infosys makes available courseware for industry-specific subjects, projects for students, sabbaticals for professors and holds seminars in colleges.
"Our model is flexible. Every college has its own advantage and limitation. We factor in all this and help them create and run such programmes," says Ravindra.
Mehra of Cisco says the benefits of such industry-academia partnership are numerous. "New papers get published and patent applications are also filed," he says.
"There may be some resistance from universities as far as curriculum upgradation goes, as some may feel corporate involvement may threaten their autonomy," says the vice-chancellor of a leading university.
Right now, course content developed by corporates is offered as electives in most universities. Some have begun to offer such courses as core subjects. For example, IBM has persuaded many colleges to incorporate unified modelling language in their curriculum.
Corporate houses also feel the need for a stronger element of vocational training. "We are moving towards a services economy structure. Success of countries like Japan and Germany can be attributed to the presence of a strong vocational training set-up.
Unfortunately, the mindset of most Indian corporations is degree-driven. IT companies, for instance, look for B.Tech/BE/ MCA as a prerequisite," says Mehra of Cisco.
Aparna Ramalingam.
Such alliances are pretty common in the United States. And the trend is now catching up in India, with leading companies forging alliances with universities.
For example, India is short of 59,000 networking professionals and 4,000 tax professionals. That's prompting companies like Cisco and Ernst & Young to come up with programmes which aim to close this gap.
Cisco launched its networking academy programme in 2001 and till date, over 46 universities and 110 engineering colleges have partnered with the networking major in its initiative.
Though the programme is primarily targeted at engineering students, even working professionals can undertake such courses. The demand-supply gap in this field is estimated to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 39%, the highest to be 137,200 professionals by 2009.
"Moreover, 55% of this shortfall will be for professionals with advanced networking skills in the areas of network security and new network developments such as IP telephony and wireless networking.
And if immediate measures are not undertaken, then India stands to lose its edge as a knowledge economy," predicts Lokesh Mehra, regional manager, corporate responsibility, Cisco.
Similarly, Ernst & Young launched its tax associate programme at E&Y Tax Academy in Chennai last year. "With rising income levels and also heightened corporate activity, there is a growing need for skilled tax professionals.
Most tax professionals are CAs and lawyers. It's also been seen that many CAs don't stay put in CA firms. So there is a dearth of good tax professionals in the country," says Gaurav Taneja, partner and national tax director, Ernst & Young, India.
Similarly, software behemoth Infosys Technologies has been running its Campus Connect programme since 2004. "This industry is growing at a scorching pace.
Very soon, companies like us would be hiring huge numbers of professionals every year. So some kind of intervention is required," remarks M P Ravindra, senior vice-president and head, education and research, Infosys Technologies.
The company is currently working with 334 universities and colleges to produce "industry-ready recruits". Accordingly, Infosys makes available courseware for industry-specific subjects, projects for students, sabbaticals for professors and holds seminars in colleges.
"Our model is flexible. Every college has its own advantage and limitation. We factor in all this and help them create and run such programmes," says Ravindra.
Mehra of Cisco says the benefits of such industry-academia partnership are numerous. "New papers get published and patent applications are also filed," he says.
"There may be some resistance from universities as far as curriculum upgradation goes, as some may feel corporate involvement may threaten their autonomy," says the vice-chancellor of a leading university.
Right now, course content developed by corporates is offered as electives in most universities. Some have begun to offer such courses as core subjects. For example, IBM has persuaded many colleges to incorporate unified modelling language in their curriculum.
Corporate houses also feel the need for a stronger element of vocational training. "We are moving towards a services economy structure. Success of countries like Japan and Germany can be attributed to the presence of a strong vocational training set-up.
Unfortunately, the mindset of most Indian corporations is degree-driven. IT companies, for instance, look for B.Tech/BE/ MCA as a prerequisite," says Mehra of Cisco.
Aparna Ramalingam.