<div dir="ltr">
<section class="gmail-title_section gmail-clearfix"><h1 class="gmail-heading1"><span>Engineering students nudged to earn extra credits in English</span></h1><div class="gmail-brandwire_txt"></div><span><a target="_blank" class="gmail-auth_detail" rel="author" href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/toireporter/author-Somdatta-Basu-15331.cms">Somdatta Basu</a></span><span class="gmail-time_cptn"> | <span><span>TNN</span></span> | <span>May 29, 2018, 08:24 IST<time datetime="2018-05-29T08:24:12+05:30"></time></span></span><div class="gmail-leftsocial"><div id="gmail-widget-two"></div><div class="gmail-toiwidgets_social"><span class="gmail-fb gmail-show_sprite gmail-toishare"></span><span class="gmail-twitter gmail-show_sprite gmail-toishare"></span><span class="gmail-gplus gmail-show_sprite gmail-toishare"></span><span class="gmail-linkedin gmail-show_sprite gmail-toishare"></span><span class="gmail-pinterest gmail-show_sprite gmail-toishare"></span><span class="gmail-comment-slider gmail-show_sprite gmail-toishare" style="background-color:rgb(202,202,202)"></span></div></div><div class="gmail-topsocial gmail-actions"><div class="gmail-toiwidgets_social"><span class="email gmail-show_sprite gmail-toishare"></span><span class="gmail-print gmail-show_sprite gmail-toishare"></span><span class="gmail-fontd gmail-show_sprite gmail-toishare"></span><span class="gmail-fonti gmail-show_sprite gmail-toishare"></span></div></div></section><section class="gmail-highlight gmail-clearfix"><img src="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/thumb/msid-64363088,width-400,resizemode-4/64363088.jpg" alt="Representative image" title="Representative image"><span class="gmail-img_cptn">Representative image</span></section><div class="gmail-article_content gmail-clearfix"><span><div class="gmail-section1"><div class="gmail-Normal">KOLKATA: From this year, <a class="gmail-key_underline" href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/private-engineering-college-students">private engineering college students</a>
who are weak in English will be nudged to choose the language from a
bouquet of soft-skill courses that they will be required to pursue to
earn an additional 20 credits, which would eventually fetch them a
‘BTech with honours’ degree.
<br>
<br>As per new proposals, all students will be required to earn 160
credits during the four-year course to get a BTech degree. The
additional 20 credits will earn them a ‘BTech with honours’ degree. And,
teachers will advise students weak in English to earn these extra 20
credits in the language.
<br>
<br>
<div class="gmail-blockquote"><div class="gmail-author">TimesView<p>A
large section of Bengal's tech graduates may not have adequate English
communication skills. That the problem exists is a fact; several
generations of Bengal board students have suffered because of changes
effected in the English-language policy by earlier regimes. But the
solutions may differ. It is a matter of debate whether training at the
undergraduate level can make up for inadequate learning at the primary
level. But the education minister's suggestion to private engineering
colleges indicates that the government knows there is a problem. The
right to way to fix this may be to start early; the quality of
English-language training that students receive right at the primary
level must be improved.</p><small></small></div></div>
<br>
<br>The proposals for the 2018-19 academic sessions have been drawn up
by the Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad University of Technology (MAKAUT), to
which all private engineering colleges are affiliated.
<br>
<br>While earning the additional 20 credits to secure a ‘BTech with
honours’ is still optional, the university plans to persuade colleges to
make it compulsory.
<br>
<br>“Those not earning the additional points will get just BTech degree.
But if teachers find that a candidate needs to improve English
knowledge, presentation, communication, group writing or group
activities skills then they will have to earn the extra 20 credits in
the language,” said vicechancellor of MAKAUT, Saikat Maitra.
<br>
<br>Students can choose soft-skill subjects
<br>
<br>According to MAKAUT VC Saikat Mitra, every attempt would be made to
bring about changes in the teaching system to help students improve
their English skills. “For instance, students will be told to make
presentations in the class. This will help improve their chances at
cracking interviews that require soft skills and proficiency in
English,” Mitra said.
<br>
<br>The students will be free to choose their soft-skill course, which
will be taught digitally, from a wide range of subjects like artificial
intelligence, cryptography, professional communication, personality
development, how to make better presentations, big data, data science,
introduction to computer programming and English, among others. Teachers
would guide the students to pick a subject from this bouquet.
<br>
<div class="gmail-last8brdiv"><div class="gmail-sponsor_block gmail-clearfix gmail-loaded" style="display:none"><ul class="gmail-colombiaSuccess" id="gmail-129146-643630801" style="display:block"><div style="height:1px"></div>
<div class="gmail-ctn-vid-ad" style="width:100%"></div>
</ul><div class="gmail-alR"><span class="gmail-clmblogo">Recommended By Colombia<i class="gmail-clmcup"></i></span></div></div></div><br>Association
of Professional Academic Institutions (APAI), which is the
representative of all self-financed engineering and technological
institutions in West Bengal, has agreed to the proposals drawn up by the
university.
<div class="gmail-last7brdiv"></div><br>
<div class="gmail-last6brdiv"></div><br>“As the education minister has
suggested, we plan to hold discussions with MAKAUT authorities. Time
permitting, we plan to suggest MAKAUT to allow us to hold additional
English classes over the weekend or everyday after all classes get
over,” APAI president Taranjit Singh said.
<div class="gmail-last5brdiv"></div><br>
<div class="gmail-last4brdiv"></div><br>
<div class="gmail-image"><img src="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/img/64363091/Master.jpg" alt="credited"></div>
<div class="gmail-last3brdiv"></div><br>
<div class="gmail-last2brdiv"></div><br>State education minister Partha
Chatterjee had on Sunday urged private engineering colleges to introduce
a sixmonth English crash course for students to increase their
employability. He said, “Engineering seats in Bengal have increased
substantially. Yet, engineers are not getting jobs. An engineer had even
approached me for a Rs 5,000 per month job. For over a
decade-and-a-half English was not taught at the primary level, eroding
the bases of a generation of students. These courses, therefore, would
help students,” he said Chatterjee said while this was only a
suggestion, it would help students go a long way. He added that hi</div></div></span></div>
<br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature">=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+<br><br> Harold F. Schiffman<br><br>Professor Emeritus of <br> Dravidian Linguistics and Culture <br>Dept. of South Asia Studies <br>University of Pennsylvania<br>Philadelphia, PA 19104-6305<br><br>Phone: (215) 898-7475<br>Fax: (215) 573-2138 <br><br>Email: <a href="mailto:haroldfs@gmail.com" target="_blank">haroldfs@gmail.com</a><br><a href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/" target="_blank">http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/</a> <br><br>-------------------------------------------------</div>
</div>