Job-readiness Of Graduates, Among The Biggest Achievements In 2024

As the year comes to an end, higher education changed like never before. AI has impacted all aspects of our lives, and higher education is also reflective of this change. We saw a major overhaul of syllabus in our university. Programmes like Prompt Engineering using ChatGPT, a part of Specialisation in the 5^th Semester for BTech students have been launched. Generative AI has also been added as a subject for 12 credits. Data Analytics and Machine Learning Network, Variation Auto Encoders (VAEs), and transformers like BERT, GPT are also a part of the curriculum now. This will enable students to stay abreast with changing times and learn skills that will be needed once they pass out.

With increasing population, medical science is also seeing a humongous growth. Thus, our courses in allied health sciences offer career options to the students to become the support system to the doctors as per requirement. Another area seeing growth is forensic sciences as cyber crime is increasing. With time, forensic labs will need to be set up and this futuristic course will enable the students to kick start their career very soon. Agriculture is the backbone of our economy and farmers need the right tools. Smart agriculture with the use of technology, vertical agriculture and hydroponic agriculture are on the rise. While we are already emphasising on these courses, we will need more students who are job ready and willing to serve the nation in the future.

In 2024, the biggest achievement in higher education has to be the ability to produce students who are job ready once they pass out. This has been possible because a select few universities like Centurion University are offering skill-based education, which enables students to learn practical aspects of their chosen field while they are still studying. Integration of Action Learning Labs along with industry tie ups is the key for this success. 

However, amongst the misses I would say that our education system needs to be more inclusive, offering students flexibility to complete their course through lateral entry at multiple stages, and by offering courses for the academically bright as well as the ones who are better at on field jobs but may not be as good with theory. We offer B Voc, a course where students can work at a store and gets assessed for their performance on the job for practical examination and separate theory classes are conducted so that in three years they can become a graduate while working, and also aspire to become a supervisor and a manager through continuous education. For 2025 I hope that every student, from every strata of society can access higher education, and through skill based education may we be able to provide them with the requisite skills and training to land a job immediately after passing out.   

Dr (Prof) Supriya Pattanayak

Guest Author Dr (Prof) Supriya Pattanayak, Vice Chancellor, Centurion University of Technology and Management, Odisha