The Super30 Program, which is creating institutions of technical excellence in each district of Karnataka, is plugging the shortage of quality talent required by India's growing industries, Dr. Ashwath Narayan C.N., Minister for Higher Education; IT & BT, Science & Technology; Skill Development, Entrepreneurship & Livelihood, Government of Karnataka, said on Tuesday.
Speaking at the launch of the Regional Ecosystem for Technical Excellence (RETE) Report, the Minister also stressed that the state higher education department wants to achieve 100% placements at all its institutions in the next three years.
The RETE is "one of its type" and it seeks to create a one-of-its-kind institution of technical excellence in each district of Karnataka, Narayan said, highlighting that the initiative is aligned to the National Education Policy 2020 that seeks to make students industry and future-ready through technical apprenticeship and mentoring programs.
"The Super30 Program's vision is to provide world-class, quality technical, multidisciplinary education by strengthening academic, infrastructure and human resources in partnership with industry to foster innovations at grassroots that can solve societal challenges in each district beyond Bengaluru," he said.
The Minister also said that the government is encouraging at least 10 projects or innovations in each district to solve societal problems.
Preparing students of tomorrow
The Karnataka government has created a better corpus in government educational institutions allowing them to keep the funds collected for improving facilities and infrastructure, he said, adding that "in-line with the National Education Policy 2020, we aim to give students the knowledge and exposure that they deserve to compete globally".
Going towards quality education and creating more employment opportunities, Narayan said that the state government will bring together entrepreneurs, industrialists, and venture capitalists from the industry for each district to ensure every institution has the necessary resources to be a Super30 Institution in the shortest possible time.
This will expose students to various facilities that they can make use of, and it will be ensured that relevant knowledge is given to them to make sure they are employable, he emphasised.
On mentorship, it has been emphasised that an industry anchor will enable the establishment of Centres of Excellence in knowledge domains, while job-ready programs will ensure the curriculum is aligned to focus both on competency and knowledge.
The government will also assist in the translation of research or community projects into incubation and startups, and ensure a multidisciplinary curriculum integrating engineering with business, design, social or humanities.
This will be alongside national partnerships with institutions such as IIT, IIM, IISc, IISERs, to enable joint programs, and international partnerships or collaborations for student transfers and study abroad programs.
