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AICTE launches initiative to boost employability of students
AICTE's PRACTICE initiative will reform 1,000 underperforming engineering colleges to enhance employability for 5 lakh students by 2028.
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A total of 1,000 underperforming engineering colleges in tier-2 and tier-3 cities will undergo pedagogical reforms to boost students’ employability under Project for Advancing Critical Thinking Industry Connect and Employability (PRACTICE), an initiative launched by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) on Monday. The project aims to benefit over 5 lakh undergraduate students and 10,000 faculty members in government and private engineering colleges affiliated to AICTE.
According to officials, the key interventions under the initiative include project-based learning through boot camps, faculty training for over 10,000 teachers, and innovation support to institutions. The project will also focus on strengthening industry linkages with internships and projects, enhancing employability through soft skills training, and building a national mentor network for guidance and support.
The newly launched initiative PRACTICE will be implemented in three phases – 200 colleges in first; 300 in second and 500 in third – from 2025 to 2028 in collaboration with the Centre for Research in Schemes and Policies (CRISP), a policy think tank; Learn Engineering by Activity (LEAP), an IIT Madras initiative promoting hands-on, project-based engineering education; and the Maker Bhavan Foundation, a US-based nonprofit working on Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education in Indian colleges. The project costing ₹23.31 crore (50:50 contribution by AICTE and partners) aims to make India’s next generation of engineers skilled, employable, and innovation-driven.
“The new AICTE initiative reflects a deep commitment of the government of India’s for ensuring equitable access to quality technical education in line with National Education Policy (2020),” said Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan in a video message during the launch of PRACTICE initiative by AICTE officials on Engineer’s Day 2025.
AICTE has over 5,800 affiliated engineering and diploma colleges with over 30 lakh students studying in them. AICTE chairman T. G. Sitharam said that only 25% engineering colleges in tier-2 and tier-3 cities currently have industry linkages.
“Despite having one of the largest networks of engineering colleges in the world, only about half of our graduates are considered employable in the modern industry. We will fill this employability gap by connecting colleges to industries, training teachers and improving pedagogy under PRACTICE initiative ... .PRACTICE will redefine project-based learning and strengthen industry-academia collaboration, particularly in aspirational colleges with untapped potential,” he said.
R. Subrahmanyam, founder and CEO of think-tank CRISP said that the core focus of the initiative PRACTICE is on non-meritorious and often neglected institutions. “The initiative aims to support these colleges, promote their growth, and bring them into the mainstream of quality technical education and innovation,” he said.
