Technical Education in Odisha

Present Scenario, Challenges and Prospects

Employment and Technical Education & Training Department,Government of Odisha

ORISSA : 1955ORISSA : 1955

8 years after Independence8 years after Independence

Still an agrarian state with virtually no presence of industry.Still an agrarian state with virtually no presence of industry.

Only significant engineering structure was the famous Only significant engineering structure was the famous

Hirakud Dam.Hirakud Dam.

19561956

At the feet of Hirakud Dam, the first engineering college At the feet of Hirakud Dam, the first engineering college of Odisha came up at Burla with 20 students enrolling of Odisha came up at Burla with 20 students enrolling into 3 branches .into 3 branches .

It was named University College of Engineering (UCE) It was named University College of Engineering (UCE) and thus began the history of technical education in and thus began the history of technical education in Odisha.Odisha.

1961

On 15 August 1961, Regional Engineering College (REC)

Rourkela was established under the then Chief Minister of

Odisha, Biju Patnaik and its foundation stone was laid by the

then Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru.

It was granted autonomy and functional independence by

the Ministry of Human Resource Development in 2002 thus

becoming one of the National Institutes of Technology.

1981

The College of Engineering and Technology (CET), Bhubaneswar

was established in 1981, by the Government of Odisha as a

constituent college of the Orissa University of Agriculture and

Technology.

Since 2002, CET Bhubaneswar is a constituent college of Biju

Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT).

Next year - 1982

Government of Odisha established another Technical institute, Indira Gandhi Institute of Technology, Sarang

in the Talcher - Angul industrial belt. It is an autonomous Institute affiliated to BPUT and with a Board of Governors headed by the Hon’ble Minister, Employment and

Technical Education and Training, Govt. of Odisha.

Orissa Engineering College (OEC),

Bhubaneswar, is the first private

Engineering college to be established in

Odisha in 1986.

The number of private Engineering

colleges in the state grew rapidly in the

late 1990s and after 2000.

Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT), Rourkela was established

by an Act of the Assembly, Government of Odisha in June 2002.

The main objective of instituting the University was to ensure high quality of

students coming out of these large number of technical colleges through a

common curriculum and uniform evaluation.

All Engineering, Pharmacy, Architecture and most of the colleges offering MCA

and MBA degree programmes are either constituent or affiliated colleges of this

University.

BPUTBPUT

THE BEGINNING  The University came into existence in 2002 with  

27 Number of Colleges32000 Number of Students1500 Number of Teachers 

PRESENT SCENARIO As on date, the University has 

155 Number of Colleges1,10,000Number. of Students7,000 Number of Teachers

In the year 2009

Parala Maharaja Engineering, Sitallapali, Berhampur

In the year 2009

Government College of Engineering, Kalahandi

In the year 2011

GOVERNMENT COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, KEONJHAR

Present Physical Status of Higher Technical and Professional Education in Odisha (2013-14)

Government Technological University -BPUT 01

Unitary University-VSSUT, Burla 01

Government Engg.Colleges (CET, Bhubaneswar, IGIT, Sarang,

PMEC, Berhampur, GCEK, Bhawanipatna, GEC, Keonjhar)

05

Government Professional Colleges (IMIT,CITE) 02

Total seats in B.Tech in Government Institutes 3075

Total seats in M.Tech in Government Institutes 398

Total seats in professional courses in Government Institutes 1980

Total seats in B.Tech in Private Institutes 42,769

Total seats in M.Tech in Private Institutes 2588

Total seats in professional courses in Private Institutes 10,1 07

Status Report on

Technical Education in Odisha :

A Study Through SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis

STRENGTH

State endowed with rich mineral resources attracts huge investments in various industrial sectors, which in turn offers good employment opportunity for technically educated and skilled youth of the state

A stable state government supporting academic and administrative reforms at various levels in the universities and colleges

Presence of top ranking national institutes like IITB, XIMB, NIT, NISER, IOP and IMA lend a positive echo system for technical education

Presence of central PSUs like NALCO, RSP, HAL, MCL offer scope for healthy industry-academia interaction

Growing culture of entrepreneurship

Major contribution by private sector towards capacity expansion and growth of technical education

Growth of IT industry in the state

WEAKNESS

BPUT, Odisha is burdened with more than 160 affiliated colleges which poses a constraint to timely academic reforms

Lack of faculty training institutes to create master trainers

A good number of private institutes have poor infrastructure and facilities

Very low density of technical education institutes in rural Odisha

More than 40% of intake capacity in engineering streams remaining unutilised since last 3 years

Technical students have poor abilities in soft skills and a large percentage are not employable after passing out

No quality finishing schools in the State

Weak campus placement initiatives in government colleges

Inadequate research and development activities

OPPORTUNITY

Bhubaneswar could emerge as a quality hub for technical education like Manipal, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore

Presence of large industrial houses and PSUs offer scope for PPP in technical education sector relating to expansion and creation of new facilities / capacities

Availability of a sizeable talent pool of technically qualified youth to attract industry and investment

THREAT

Over commercialisation of technical education

Ongoing economic downturn may cause closure of a no. of financially unsustainable institutes due to very low capacity utilisation which might send a wrong signal to potential investors

Based on the SWOT analysis and in view of rapid

industrialisation in the state and globalisation of the

economy, a need was felt to improve technical education

system and create efficient and accessible labour

markets for all skill categories.

Realising this, Government of Odisha created a new

department in Feb. 2012 in the name and style of

“Employment and Technical Education & Training

Department”

SIGNIFICANT INITIATIVE BY STATE GOVT. IN 2012

VISION

To be a world class brand name for providing

technical manpower needed in industry and

academia

To create wealth and prosperity in the

society through application of technical

knowledge

MISSION

• Making the places of teaching intellectually

stimulating and emotionally pleasurable for

the students and faculty.

• Ensure proficiency of students in their domain

of study as well as in soft skills (IT and

communicative English).

BROAD STRATEGY

• Ensuring an appropriate and world class curriculum ,

effective teaching and a rational examination system.

• Supporting and creating centres of excellence for

fundamental and industrial research that could bench

mark as best in the business.

• Establishing partnerships with progressive industries for

addressing major industrial problems.

• Joining hands with innovative academic institutions for

improving teaching & research standards.

Goals

To achieve a 40 % increase in GER by 2017

To achieve further 40% increase in GER by 2022

To achieve 40% higher enrolment of rural students each by end of

2017 and 2022

To achieve 40% higher enrolment each for SC and ST students by

end of 2017 and 2022

To achieve 40% higher enrolment each for SC and ST girl students

by end of 2017 and 2022

To achieve 40% higher enrolment of differently abled students by end of

2017 and 2022

To have 10% of engineering / technical institutes qualify for

autonomous status by 2020

To establish a Research University and make it fully functional

by 2017

Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA)

RUSA is a centrally sponsored scheme which

aims at strategic intervention for the

improvement of access, equity and quality

in Indian higher education that focuses on

state Universities and state institutions.

It will spread over two five year plan periods

(12th and 13th)

Priority Areas identified for implementation under RUSA

• Setting up a Research University• Setting up a Cluster University• Strengthening BPUT• Capacity Expansion• Faculty Development• Academic Reforms • Research & Innovations

Strengthening BPUT

• Functioning of 4 zonal centres to decentralize administrative, examination, student grievances redressal etc.

• Functioning of State of Art Computer Centre and Central Library.

• Establishment of Smart Class Rooms.• Connecting all the colleges through Video

Conferencing.• Functioning of online grievance redressal system.• Functioning of Central Placement Cell.• Developing the students common facilities.• Promoting Institute –Industry Interactions.

Capacity Expansion

• Creation of best-in-class infrastructure with modern class-rooms, high-tech laboratories, Wi-Fi campus, high speed internet access, hostels, auditoriums in the existing colleges.

• Establishment of 05 new engineering and Professional colleges in the unrepresented undivided districts of the State.

Faculty Development

• Arrange refresher courses as per UGC and AICTE norms for faculty members.

• Teachers training / orientation and quality improvement courses.

• Creation of more PG and PhD programs in the State run institutions .

• Setting up R&D laboratories for extensive research activities of PG & PhD students as well as use by the local industries.

Academic Reforms

• Accreditation of all academic programs in all the Govt. institutes.

• Well structured and progressive curriculum.• Non-negotiable academic calendar. • Bar-coded OMR based answer books to expedite the

evaluation and publication of result.• CCTV cameras installed in examination centres for

effective surveillance.• On-line registration facilities for students• Provision for weaker students to pursue the course at a

more comfortable pace.

•  

Research & Innovations

• To modernize the laboratories with present generation equipments.

• Emphasis on cross disciplinary research in cutting area technologies.

• Collaborative arrangement with State based Central PSUs, State PSUs, Private Industries and other R&D establishments.

• Setting up of Centres of Excellence (COE) at : VSSUT Burla, CET Bhubaneswar IGIT Sarang

• To build a Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Park at BPUT Campus, Rourkela

GovernanceGovernance

• Faculty governance , staff governance and student governance practices must converge and complement each other.

• Good governance practices boost the morale of the governed and create commitment towards organizational objectives.

• Good governance is the culmination of all good practices in administration, management , HR and employees welfare.

• Leveraging ICT into governance practices makes those transparent , user-friendly and faster.

Leadership Development:

• To develop leadership amongst the Vice

Chancellors, Directors, Administrators,

Principals for effective administration

and governance through appropriate

training inputs.

State Government have approved a major scheme with a capital outlay of 300.00 crores for infrastructure development of Government Technical Universities and colleges during 2013-14 to 2016-17.

It is planned to increase the intake capacity of UG and PG level institutions from 3017 in the year 2012-13 to 6328 during 2016-17

State Plan support In order to make up the critical gap of infrastructure of Engineering / Professional Colleges and to improve the quality, the following State Plan support has been made:

Year

Major targets and financial outlays proposed under RUSA

Component Year 1 Target

Year 2 Target

Year 3 Target

Year 4 Target

Year 5 Target

Total

New Universities 100.00 150.00 150.00 50.00 50.00 500.00

Up-gradation of existing autonomous colleges to Universities

00 00 00 00 00 0.00

Conversation of colleges to Cluster Universities

50.00 100.00 50.00 00 00 200.00

Infrastructure grants to Universities

62.90 55.45 54.55 53.05 53.10 279.05

New Model Colleges (General) 00 00 00 00 00 0.00

Up-gradation of existing degree Colleges to model colleges

00 00 00 00 00 0.00

New Colleges (Engineering/Professional)

50 100 50 50 00 250.00

Infrastructure grants to colleges 53.85 57.48 35.99 32.31 33.32 212.95

Infrastructure grant to Govt. Polytechnics

98.82 57.86 70.00 44.95 32.04 303.67

Research, innovation and quality improvement 36.64 28.60 25.85 23.60 24.01 138.70

Equity initiatives 12.00 12.00 12.00 12.00 12.00 60.00

Faculty Recruitment support 6.00 6.00 6.00 6.00 6.00 30.00

Faculty improvements 16.91 12.39 12.39 11.14 10.01 62.84

Research Universities 30.00 50.00 50.00 50.00 20.00 200.00

Vocationalization of Higher Education

6.00 6.00 6.00 6.00 6.00 30.00

Leadership Development of Educational administrators

3.00 3.00 3.00 3.00 3.00 15.00

Institutional restructuring & reforms

17.17 14.19 13.31 13.05 11.8769.59

Capacity building & preparation, Data collection & planning

72.57 60.93 61.51 61.90 62.29 319.20

Management Information System

3.00 3.00 3.00 3.00 3.00 15.00

Total 618.86 716.9 603.6 444.87 364.42 2686.00

• All these measures and initiatives are expected to usher in a balanced socio-economic growth in the state through industrialization, appropriate harnessing of natural resources and maximizing the employment potential of the local work force.