11th Annual Convention & State level Seminar
of ISTE ( Tamilnadu and Pondicherry Section)
Paper Presentation
Sub Theme
Problems and issues in Educating our Millions and Millions of Youngsters through MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL
Industry-academia interaction
by
Ram Dhanasekar LM 3564, Secretary – ISTE chapter
Sr. Lecturer (Textile Marketing & Management),
&HODi/c (Computer Engg.)
S.S.M. I.T.T. & P.C.,
Komarapalayam – 638 183.
e-mail : rdsdce@rediffmail.com, ramdsekar@gmail.com
Submitted to
Dr. S.Balakrishnan
Principal & Organizing Secretary
Mepco Schlenk Engineering College
Sivakasi – 626005
principal@mepcoeng.ac.in
msec@mepcoeng.ac.in
“Including the excluded in our higher education portals”
(Problems and issues)
Abstract:
We have a great opportunity in technical education, which is being viewed as a major problem. Qualified school passed out youngsters in millions and millions who are willing to join technical institutions, but without the necessary financial muscle; hundreds and thousands of small, medium and large enterprises which are badly in need of motivated entry level novices; thousands of vacancies in hundreds of higher education institutions, which are badly in need of students for their very survival.
This equilateral triangle of problem is really a mutually beneficial opportunity for interaction among forward looking industry and real autonomous institutions.
“Including the excluded in our higher education portals”
(Problems and issues in Educating our Millions and Millions of Youngsters through MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL
Industry-autonomous academia interaction)
Today just 7% of the eligible youngsters (15 – 24 years of age) are undergoing studies in the higher education portals of our vast nation of 1100 millions. Even this remarkable 7 % figure (about 100 millions in absolute numbers) itself is a mind boggling, amazing, commendable achievement, which happened recently in the run-up to the diamond jubilee of our independent India. We are (and we should be) proud of this noteworthy success justifiably. However, it is not sufficient to make our nation a super world power in this knowledge and information era. For a meaningful and inclusive growth, every educationist, social scientist and economist worth his/her salt, repeatedly reminds us that we need to provide quality higher education for at least 20% of our population of that age group, preferably in professional streams namely engineering, technical, medical, paramedical, agricultural, legal, accounting etc..etc.
Already we have phenomenal growth of professional higher educational institutions in every sector all over India. Notably, South Indian states are appear to have too many of them in the private sector ie, the so called self financing colleges or self supporting colleges. But for the initial startup investments, actually most of these institutions are almost exclusively financed by the students’ parents/guardians either through own funds or / and bank loans which are not very difficult to get sanctioned.
Admittedly, we have some of the finest, world class higher education establishments catering to a tiny select elite by virtue of marks or money or right connections with the powers of the day. These institutions are well patronized by the students & their parents/guardians/well-wishers, and the employing organizations. Their survival and the growth are ensured beyond a shadow of uncertainty. Most of the out coming students from these institutions are well received by all sections of the society. On the other hand, obviously the available resources ( faculty, support-staff, buildings, furniture, laboratories with working equipments, leave alone the latest and the state of the art equipments, libraries, sports facilities Etc..Etc... and most importantly the brand image & prestige) at many of the private sector institutions ( in many cases even in the Govt. & Govt. aided institutions ) are definitely inadequate. As a sad consequence, through these ill-equipped institutions, currently we are blindly turning out / churning out / minting out poorly trained, ill-equipped, under qualified, un-employable passed-out job seekers in millions and millions. (Despite these chronic and obvious handicaps, some brilliant pupils are coming through these institutions to serve the society in admirable positions).
Education in general and professional higher education in particular, is becoming terribly expensive day by day in terms of time and money. Many a parents of the qualified candidates are unable to pay upfront for these full time, expensive higher education opportunities. In turn, many a higher education institutions are unable to fill up their sanctioned in take. Without getting money regularly from the parents, the private sector institutions (In many cases, Government and Government-Aided Institutions also) simply cannot survive, leave alone grow and expand. It is a vicious, downward, un-healthy cycle.
When, where and how we are going to find out the huge resources absolutely essential to educate the youth, three times the present numbers? Opening the floodgates of higher education system by simply and dangerously diluting the norms is, obviously, not a right answer. True, we need to provide higher education for our millions and millions of eager, anxious, knowledge seeking, and reasonably qualified youngsters with fantastic potential but without sufficient resources. We should do this noble task genuinely, but not for the namesake. We should provide affordable, accessible and inexpensive higher education with quality and utility to the hither to excluded segment of our youthful population.
Millions of high school and higher secondary school completed youngsters are employed at low wages without any legal protection, in formal and informal sectors of our economy in many a productive ways without formal professional education qualifications. These people can be brought in side our burgeoning education band wagon by suitably and imaginatively modifying our admission requirements, systems, curriculum design, academic content & calendar, class timings and even the examination patterns.
One practical way of achieving this noble goal is innovatively facilitating the utilization of the significant infrastructure available in the cottage industries, small and medium enterprises, large and mega corporations. All practical classes should be done on the job by observing in the beginning and later on by doing.
For example, numerous spinning mills, weaving units, garment manufacturing units, call-centers, hospitals, pharmacies, catering units, super markets, petrol bunks, workshops, poultry forms etc.. are employing a large number of young girls & boys for a fixed period of time purely on temporary basis (3 to 5 years). Most of these youngsters are provided with dormitory type accommodation in close proximity with the place of work (with a reasonable spare time in their hands). We can open up the channels of first rung of higher education system for them (say Certificate / Diploma/under-graduate program).
As a positive spin-off, these establishments will get quality manpower for a minimum, predetermined fixed period of time, in the form of motivated, eager but untrained young girls and boys because the gainful but less paying employment is coming with a splendid opportunity to have higher education without financially burdening their parents. Obviously , to distinguish the regular full time students and these industry institution cooperation initiated, part-time pupils may have elongated academic duration ( say three years in case of ITI, four years in case of Diploma/under-graduate programs etc.. because these part time students will devote less number of hours in study per day compared with regular full time fee paying students). It can also be extended to graduate, post graduate and research programmes too. Examples are plenty
.
The World famous, quality oriented Indian IT major Wipro Banglore, Chennai based eye care provider Sankara Nethrayala and a host of professionally managed organizations and even a few family managed organizations like fertilizer behemoth SPIC (Chennai and Tuticorin), are offering higher education opportunities for their its employees in collaboration with BITS, PILANI.
The Madurai based Aravind Eye Hospitals (AEH) (with units spread through out Tamilnadu and even beyond), is recruiting just secondary school completed novices and turning them into excellent eye care medical and paramedical professionals. It is not surprising to know that even the hard nosed Harward University, USA developed case studies on AEH. The Bill and Mellinda Gates foundation honoured the AEH in 2008 with a Million dollar award for their humanitarian services. The founder chairman and the present chairman are duly bestowed with “Padma Shri” honors.
We should institutionalize the industry- academia interaction, with the active participation of industry / Trade associations, federations, chambers of commerce and the distance education leaders. The possible players will be CII, FICCI, ASSOCHAM, SIMA, TEA, CODISSIA etc.. etc..on one side and on the other side UGC, AICTE, ISTE, IE(I), IGNOU, Medical and Para-Medical Distance Education Council etc.
In essence, our industries / businesses / Traders / Service enterprises should become active and involved facilitators of higher education. Correspondingly our academic institutions should become part time / full time employment facilitating agencies for their students of both full time and more importantly part time students. It is for the mutual benefit of both the industry and the academia and in the larger interest of our millions and millions of eligible, eager , interested , dynamic , hardworking , empire building youngsters, who do not have the ways and means to go for full time higher education.
Already the Bharathiar University-Coimbatore is doing a commendable exercise in this direction.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
ALTERNATIVE FOR STUDENT PROJECT WORK - UPDATE 12 JUNE 2008
A HONEST ALTERNATIVE
BUT
EFFECTIVE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
THE PREVAILING
COLLEGE FINAL YEAR STUDENTS’
PROJECT WORK SYSTEM
R.DHANASEKAR
Senior Lecturer & HOD i/c
SSM ITT & Polytechnic College
Komarapalayam-638183
A HONEST ALTERNATIVE BUT EFFECTIVE SUBSTITUTE FOR THE PREVAILING COLLEGE FINAL YEAR STUDENTS’ PROJECT WORK SYSTEM
Merits of the present system
In many streams of higher education (Arts, Science, Commerce, Engineering, Technology, Law, Management, Medical and para-medical etc.) at different levels (Diploma, Degree, Post-Graduation), the final year students project works are considered as the ideal vehicles to carry forward the artistic / scientific / engineering / Technical/Management concepts, hypothesizes and ideas of the young students into real life practical world.
True, they are a viable, affordable, easy but excellent medium to express the students’ creativity. They are the optimum interfaces between the dreamy world of academic activities and the competitive world of pragmatic technical implementations.
There are many exemplary project works illustrating the untapped, under utilized and often unappreciated capacity of the fertile minds. Some are recognized with honours, handsome cash rewards, popular awards and ready industrial/commercial acceptance too. A few are path breaking and received well deserved patents also.
By any yard stick, these project works are invariably helping the willing students (with the thirst for learning and experimentation) to hone their skills in team forming, networking, coordinating, cooperating, compromising, adjusting, wordsmithing, report writing etc. to the extent they are equipped.
On the other side of the academic spectrum also, the project work system provides a healthy and refreshing intellectual challenge to the innovative teachers who are ready to range beyond the beaten tracks of syllabus oriented teaching and learning process.
Both the students and the staff can very well happily apply their academic knowledge to the real life problems with a sense of purpose, fun and joy. They have nothing to loose and every thing to gain, even if only one of their ideas/initiatives works out well. By chance, if nothing works out as per their plan, then also they have gained, because they have learnt a lot from their failures.
Then, what is the need for and the rationale behind the proposed honest alternative/substitute?
The disease within
Having said all this and more, we must admit rather sadly, the actual number of projects which will come under the above category is a clear minority. The vast majority of the college final year projects are churned out/bought off from the so called project training centers, computer centers and study centers, which are mushrooming every year in all the cities, towns and villages too. It is an ancillary industry for the rapidly expanding education business sector. If one choose to read a project work, even on a cursory glance, the courageous reader is very likely to encounter numerous mistakes in terms of spellings, grammar, syntax, right from the title, synopsis, abstract to the conclusion and the findings. Even in the acknowledgment page more often than not, numerous mistakes are frequently found and they come up with a hefty price tag, (literally in monetary terms) in the guise of training, guiding, hands on experience and enormous time wasted in those shady joints, where young students are hanging out without any supervision. It gives them a ready excuse for avoiding classes. And the parents are also watching the happenings helplessly, without much choice at their disposal.
Why the students are opting for this expensive, humiliating and dishonest procedure?
Because, the plain fact is, a good number of our students (even as groups) are ill-equipped to identify, conceive, discuss, deliberate, execute and write an independent project report. Their vocabulary & word processing skills, sentence forming capability and proof reading expertise are poor. Simply put, it is beyond their intellectual capacity. Most of the staff members are also having the same handicap, as they themselves are the products of the very same existing system. Therefore, often they conveniently resort to outsourcing the project reports from the market, where the cost of these project reports are becoming less and less as the market is expanding rapidly. The only connection / relationship between the students and the project works is that they have paid for the project report in cash or, in worst cases, in kind. The teachers’ contribution is their permission to use their name and designation and all the more importantly their signature.
About the contents of many of the bought out projects, it is better not to speak about it. They are, in general, pirated, shop lifted, wantonly copied, perjuriously produced, plagiarized works of somebody’s initiative.
One may very well argue that the basic purpose of the project work system is to help the students to acquire the very skills which they are not possessing at present. Alas, it is a very tall order to be achieved in a short time. (All people can eat, walk and talk. But it is not realistic to expect every one to cook wonderfully, sing melodiously, dance gracefully and act playfully). As the do not have any honest alternative they are forced to become unwilling street smartness in totally dishonest plagiarism only. In putting the matter straight in plain words, we are compelling the students and the teachers to become corrupt and immoral in this project work system. To sum up, it is, at best a mockery of the academic exercise and at worst a tragedy-cum-intellectual dishonesty. But still, if we look at from the academically ill equipped student’s point of view, it is a cruelty inflicted upon the young mind. Likewise, the harassed, overloaded and helpless faculty perceives it as an avoidable punishment to be endured which is thrust upon them year after year after year.
Stating the contours of this perennial problem is not very difficult but evolving an acceptable, efficient, purposeful and workable alternative needs a consultative, accommodative, practical approach among the academicians, students and other stake holders. If we could, and we must establish meaningful alternative, then it will result in a change for the better.
Modifications suggested to the present Project Work System
Let all of us be very clear that the current system of the project work be very well continued for the willing capable students and their interested faculty guides in the present format. The following modifications to improve the present system may kindly be considered depending on the circumstances prevailing at the individual institutions.
· Number of students per batch should be flexible.
· Practicing Experts should be invited to participate in the Project
Works in terms of time, kind or cash.
· Hands on / on site / in process analysis project works should be
encouraged.
As a warm-up exercise, to begin with, a part of the pre-final year vacation should be devoted for the viable project identification. (By this time, the most of the students acquire some basic knowledge of the subjects of their educational programme). A few titles should be submitted to the potential guide / or head of the department at the commencement of the pre-final semester. With the selected guide’s concurrence, one definite and final title should be fine tuned. An abstract of the project theme with action plans to do the project should be drawn-up and sent to the Project Monitoring Committee appointed by the examination authorities (Directorate’s of respective disciplines of education, Board of Studies, Universities, Professional Bodies/Societies etc.) for their approval. During the pre-final semester, sufficient time should be allocated to do the basic ground work, literature survey etc., for the project field work.
Follow up field work should be done during the pre-final semester vacation. During the final semester, sufficient time should be allocated to complete the project work at least one month before the viva-voce. A copy of the project report must be sent to the examination authorities and another copy to the External Examiner at least two weeks in advance of the viva-voce. For wider dissemination, by taking advantage of the spread of information technology, we should publish the project report in the examination authorities’ web-sites. It will help us in reducing if not eliminating the rampant plagiarism which is shamelessly happening now almost everywhere. It will also ensure the accountability of the mater presented by the student and the guide as well. Presently most of the printed project repots are gathering dust in the shelves of the libraries.
What is the proposed honest alternative to the present project work system?
We propose an alternative by way of faithful and actual recording of a diary / journal / file of observations of whatever happening around him by the student during the industrial visit / in plant training / trade fair visits / internships, etc. The place of visit may be any thing where some relevant activity is going on with reference to the main study programme of the student. Any manufacturing enterprise (Large, Medium and small) will give a lot of opportunity to observe and record. But we need not confine ourselves to manufacturing alone.
We can consider the following list of enterprises for this purpose; Municipal water pumping stations and water distribution networks, effluent treatment plants, construction Sites, Irrigation Facilities, Agriculture and Horticulture farms, Animals Husbandry farms, Poultries, Agro Engineering enterprises, Rice Mills, Oil Mills, Flour Mills, Wind Mills, Solar Energy installations, Bio –Gas units, Hydel and Thermal energy generators, Places of worship (temples, mosques, churches, ect.), Places of retreats, Bakeries, Hotels, Motels, Hospitals, Health Care Establishments, Hostels, News Paper offices, Radio & TV Stations, Book (print and electronic) Publishing Establishments, Check Post, Toll Gates, Telephone Exchanges, Cell Phone Operators, Cable/Satellite Broad casters, Distributors, Police/Military Units, Petrol / Diesel / LNG / CNG stations, Amusement Parks, Museums, Zoos, Planetariums, Aquariums, Wild Life Parks, Banks & Financial Institutions, Super Markets & Show Rooms, Automobile & Railway workshops, Electrical & mechanical service units, Cinema Theaters, Auditoriums, Railway Stations, Air & Sea Ports, Bus Terminuses, Boat jetties, Education & Training Organisations (other than the room), Movies / TV Serial production units, Sports and Games facilities, Stadiums, Swimming & Diving pools, Exhibition & Conversion centers, Festivals, Carnivals, Country fairs, Pilgrimages (Hajj, Kailash yathra, Vatican / Jerusalem trips) Scientific & Engineering Labs, Human, live stock & Goods Transporters etc., THIS LIST IS OF ILLUSTRATIVE NATURE ONLY, NOT EXHAUSTIVE
Even if it is an internship with a celebrity/ businessman/ scientist / technologist, it is all the more welcome. True to speck, the internship with a right person is extraordinarily valuable.
As long as she/he has something to observe and record, it will result in real learning.
How it can be implemented?
Let the observation record be a hand written work (preferably in black ink on a good quality white paper so that photocopying is easy) done on the field by the students individually. If it is bi-lingual (mother tongue as well as Medium of Instruction), it is all the more better. No need to insist on grammatical accuracy of the sentences, so that the student can write without hesitation and express what he/she observes truthfully.
We can programme our students to spend a predetermined minimum number of days at chosen organizations to record their observations in a prescribed format on allocated dates. This format which is enclosed herewith may not fit all, therefore, it can be modified / changed / adopted as per the requirements of the individuals, institutions and organizations.
It will improve the functional orientation of the students. It will keep them observant about what is currently happening in the real world. Above all, it is relevant to the ground realities in the field practical work. Therefore, what the student is observing, he/she is documenting easily and faithfully in the predetermined format with ample possibilities to record the special items, if any, in whatever format the student chooses.
As he/she need not lie, one can hopefully and positively expect honesty and truth.
R.DHANASEKAR
Senior Lecturer & HOD i/c
SSM ITT & Polytechnic College
Komarapalayam-638183
Suggested format for recording the observations during
in-plant Training / Industrial Visit / Internship
Photograph of the studentName of the student :
Year and branch of study :
Register Number of the student :
Name and address of the Institution :
Staff Advisor’s name and designation:
Address of the student :
S.No.
Questionnaire
Data
1.
Name and address of the organisation /
work site / event:
(Enclose a brief description about the location - not more than one page)
2.
Day & Date of visit
3.
Time in:
4.
Time out:
5.
Name and Designation of the person(s) with whom the student interacted:
6.
Products / Services / Activities
7.
Output of the organisation
Per shift
Per Day
Per Week
Per Month
Per Annum
Inputs for the organisation
Per shift
Per Day
Per Week
Per Month
Per Annum
8.
Man power details (for larger organization – section wise breakup)
· Total Number of persons working
· Men
· Women
· Categories
(This page maybe Multiple copied to record about individual machineries / processes)
9.
Machinery / process description
Number of machines
Input
Output
Machinery manufacturer’s name & address.
Cost of purchase
Date / Year of purchase
Manpower required to operate the machine / process and the details of specific skills required to operate
Noise
Vibration
Heat
Maintenance procedure
Safety precautions adopted
Whether the student has studied about the machine / process during his study.
Whether, it is included in the forthcoming study period.
How many machines are idle? How long?
& Why? (Enclose in a separate sheet)
Energy consumption details
Types of fuel
Quantity consumed per unit time
Cost of fuel
Source of fuel
10.
Financial details
· Investment
· Operational Expenditure
· Manpower Cost
· Profit / Loss
11.
Layout of the work place / Shop Floor
(To be enclosed as appendix – I)
12.
Work flow diagram
(To be enclosed as appendix – II)
13.
Details regarding Safety and security
Emergency exits
Number and place of fire extinguishers
alarm bells
smoke and fire alarms
Sand buckets
First aid boxes
Access to medical care
14.
Facts about Pollution Control & Ecology Conservation
Number of trees
Greenery
Landscaping
How the waste is disposed off,
When
where
why
Cost
Waste re-usage details
Water sources
15.
Amenities
Drinking water
Canteen Facilities
Rest and recreation facilities
Sanitation
Transportation
Residences
16.
Standard certifications:
ISO 9000
ISO 14000
SA 8000
OHSA 18000
ISO-27000
Any other
17.
Awards / Prizes Won
18.
Physical location of the site in a Hand drawn map
(To be enclosed as appendix – III)
19.
Photographs of the student’s visit to the industry
(To be enclosed as appendix – IV)
20.
Information leaflets from the organization
(To be enclosed as appendix – V)
21.
During the period of stay of the student in the organization, Is there any specific, noteworthy event happened?
22.
What she/he likes in the organization most?
23.
What she/he does not like in the organization most?
24.
What she/he wants to change immediately?
25.
What she/he feels to change gradually?
26.
What are his/her ideas to improve the atmosphere prevailing in that organization?
27.
What facilities he/she feels to be done?
28.
In which area, he/she feels to take up some improvement / development activity utilizing his / her institute’s knowledge, skills and expertise?
29.
The opinion about the student by the organization’s contact person(s) with whom the student interacted during his/her stay in the organization.
(If possible get it in the form of a letter, so that a copy of the same may be enclosed)
30.
Any other details.
Note
1. If possible & feasible problem identification, diagnosis and solution can be considered even at the micro levels.
2. Faculty may also visit the organization for better institute industry interaction.
BUT
EFFECTIVE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
THE PREVAILING
COLLEGE FINAL YEAR STUDENTS’
PROJECT WORK SYSTEM
R.DHANASEKAR
Senior Lecturer & HOD i/c
SSM ITT & Polytechnic College
Komarapalayam-638183
A HONEST ALTERNATIVE BUT EFFECTIVE SUBSTITUTE FOR THE PREVAILING COLLEGE FINAL YEAR STUDENTS’ PROJECT WORK SYSTEM
Merits of the present system
In many streams of higher education (Arts, Science, Commerce, Engineering, Technology, Law, Management, Medical and para-medical etc.) at different levels (Diploma, Degree, Post-Graduation), the final year students project works are considered as the ideal vehicles to carry forward the artistic / scientific / engineering / Technical/Management concepts, hypothesizes and ideas of the young students into real life practical world.
True, they are a viable, affordable, easy but excellent medium to express the students’ creativity. They are the optimum interfaces between the dreamy world of academic activities and the competitive world of pragmatic technical implementations.
There are many exemplary project works illustrating the untapped, under utilized and often unappreciated capacity of the fertile minds. Some are recognized with honours, handsome cash rewards, popular awards and ready industrial/commercial acceptance too. A few are path breaking and received well deserved patents also.
By any yard stick, these project works are invariably helping the willing students (with the thirst for learning and experimentation) to hone their skills in team forming, networking, coordinating, cooperating, compromising, adjusting, wordsmithing, report writing etc. to the extent they are equipped.
On the other side of the academic spectrum also, the project work system provides a healthy and refreshing intellectual challenge to the innovative teachers who are ready to range beyond the beaten tracks of syllabus oriented teaching and learning process.
Both the students and the staff can very well happily apply their academic knowledge to the real life problems with a sense of purpose, fun and joy. They have nothing to loose and every thing to gain, even if only one of their ideas/initiatives works out well. By chance, if nothing works out as per their plan, then also they have gained, because they have learnt a lot from their failures.
Then, what is the need for and the rationale behind the proposed honest alternative/substitute?
The disease within
Having said all this and more, we must admit rather sadly, the actual number of projects which will come under the above category is a clear minority. The vast majority of the college final year projects are churned out/bought off from the so called project training centers, computer centers and study centers, which are mushrooming every year in all the cities, towns and villages too. It is an ancillary industry for the rapidly expanding education business sector. If one choose to read a project work, even on a cursory glance, the courageous reader is very likely to encounter numerous mistakes in terms of spellings, grammar, syntax, right from the title, synopsis, abstract to the conclusion and the findings. Even in the acknowledgment page more often than not, numerous mistakes are frequently found and they come up with a hefty price tag, (literally in monetary terms) in the guise of training, guiding, hands on experience and enormous time wasted in those shady joints, where young students are hanging out without any supervision. It gives them a ready excuse for avoiding classes. And the parents are also watching the happenings helplessly, without much choice at their disposal.
Why the students are opting for this expensive, humiliating and dishonest procedure?
Because, the plain fact is, a good number of our students (even as groups) are ill-equipped to identify, conceive, discuss, deliberate, execute and write an independent project report. Their vocabulary & word processing skills, sentence forming capability and proof reading expertise are poor. Simply put, it is beyond their intellectual capacity. Most of the staff members are also having the same handicap, as they themselves are the products of the very same existing system. Therefore, often they conveniently resort to outsourcing the project reports from the market, where the cost of these project reports are becoming less and less as the market is expanding rapidly. The only connection / relationship between the students and the project works is that they have paid for the project report in cash or, in worst cases, in kind. The teachers’ contribution is their permission to use their name and designation and all the more importantly their signature.
About the contents of many of the bought out projects, it is better not to speak about it. They are, in general, pirated, shop lifted, wantonly copied, perjuriously produced, plagiarized works of somebody’s initiative.
One may very well argue that the basic purpose of the project work system is to help the students to acquire the very skills which they are not possessing at present. Alas, it is a very tall order to be achieved in a short time. (All people can eat, walk and talk. But it is not realistic to expect every one to cook wonderfully, sing melodiously, dance gracefully and act playfully). As the do not have any honest alternative they are forced to become unwilling street smartness in totally dishonest plagiarism only. In putting the matter straight in plain words, we are compelling the students and the teachers to become corrupt and immoral in this project work system. To sum up, it is, at best a mockery of the academic exercise and at worst a tragedy-cum-intellectual dishonesty. But still, if we look at from the academically ill equipped student’s point of view, it is a cruelty inflicted upon the young mind. Likewise, the harassed, overloaded and helpless faculty perceives it as an avoidable punishment to be endured which is thrust upon them year after year after year.
Stating the contours of this perennial problem is not very difficult but evolving an acceptable, efficient, purposeful and workable alternative needs a consultative, accommodative, practical approach among the academicians, students and other stake holders. If we could, and we must establish meaningful alternative, then it will result in a change for the better.
Modifications suggested to the present Project Work System
Let all of us be very clear that the current system of the project work be very well continued for the willing capable students and their interested faculty guides in the present format. The following modifications to improve the present system may kindly be considered depending on the circumstances prevailing at the individual institutions.
· Number of students per batch should be flexible.
· Practicing Experts should be invited to participate in the Project
Works in terms of time, kind or cash.
· Hands on / on site / in process analysis project works should be
encouraged.
As a warm-up exercise, to begin with, a part of the pre-final year vacation should be devoted for the viable project identification. (By this time, the most of the students acquire some basic knowledge of the subjects of their educational programme). A few titles should be submitted to the potential guide / or head of the department at the commencement of the pre-final semester. With the selected guide’s concurrence, one definite and final title should be fine tuned. An abstract of the project theme with action plans to do the project should be drawn-up and sent to the Project Monitoring Committee appointed by the examination authorities (Directorate’s of respective disciplines of education, Board of Studies, Universities, Professional Bodies/Societies etc.) for their approval. During the pre-final semester, sufficient time should be allocated to do the basic ground work, literature survey etc., for the project field work.
Follow up field work should be done during the pre-final semester vacation. During the final semester, sufficient time should be allocated to complete the project work at least one month before the viva-voce. A copy of the project report must be sent to the examination authorities and another copy to the External Examiner at least two weeks in advance of the viva-voce. For wider dissemination, by taking advantage of the spread of information technology, we should publish the project report in the examination authorities’ web-sites. It will help us in reducing if not eliminating the rampant plagiarism which is shamelessly happening now almost everywhere. It will also ensure the accountability of the mater presented by the student and the guide as well. Presently most of the printed project repots are gathering dust in the shelves of the libraries.
What is the proposed honest alternative to the present project work system?
We propose an alternative by way of faithful and actual recording of a diary / journal / file of observations of whatever happening around him by the student during the industrial visit / in plant training / trade fair visits / internships, etc. The place of visit may be any thing where some relevant activity is going on with reference to the main study programme of the student. Any manufacturing enterprise (Large, Medium and small) will give a lot of opportunity to observe and record. But we need not confine ourselves to manufacturing alone.
We can consider the following list of enterprises for this purpose; Municipal water pumping stations and water distribution networks, effluent treatment plants, construction Sites, Irrigation Facilities, Agriculture and Horticulture farms, Animals Husbandry farms, Poultries, Agro Engineering enterprises, Rice Mills, Oil Mills, Flour Mills, Wind Mills, Solar Energy installations, Bio –Gas units, Hydel and Thermal energy generators, Places of worship (temples, mosques, churches, ect.), Places of retreats, Bakeries, Hotels, Motels, Hospitals, Health Care Establishments, Hostels, News Paper offices, Radio & TV Stations, Book (print and electronic) Publishing Establishments, Check Post, Toll Gates, Telephone Exchanges, Cell Phone Operators, Cable/Satellite Broad casters, Distributors, Police/Military Units, Petrol / Diesel / LNG / CNG stations, Amusement Parks, Museums, Zoos, Planetariums, Aquariums, Wild Life Parks, Banks & Financial Institutions, Super Markets & Show Rooms, Automobile & Railway workshops, Electrical & mechanical service units, Cinema Theaters, Auditoriums, Railway Stations, Air & Sea Ports, Bus Terminuses, Boat jetties, Education & Training Organisations (other than the room), Movies / TV Serial production units, Sports and Games facilities, Stadiums, Swimming & Diving pools, Exhibition & Conversion centers, Festivals, Carnivals, Country fairs, Pilgrimages (Hajj, Kailash yathra, Vatican / Jerusalem trips) Scientific & Engineering Labs, Human, live stock & Goods Transporters etc., THIS LIST IS OF ILLUSTRATIVE NATURE ONLY, NOT EXHAUSTIVE
Even if it is an internship with a celebrity/ businessman/ scientist / technologist, it is all the more welcome. True to speck, the internship with a right person is extraordinarily valuable.
As long as she/he has something to observe and record, it will result in real learning.
How it can be implemented?
Let the observation record be a hand written work (preferably in black ink on a good quality white paper so that photocopying is easy) done on the field by the students individually. If it is bi-lingual (mother tongue as well as Medium of Instruction), it is all the more better. No need to insist on grammatical accuracy of the sentences, so that the student can write without hesitation and express what he/she observes truthfully.
We can programme our students to spend a predetermined minimum number of days at chosen organizations to record their observations in a prescribed format on allocated dates. This format which is enclosed herewith may not fit all, therefore, it can be modified / changed / adopted as per the requirements of the individuals, institutions and organizations.
It will improve the functional orientation of the students. It will keep them observant about what is currently happening in the real world. Above all, it is relevant to the ground realities in the field practical work. Therefore, what the student is observing, he/she is documenting easily and faithfully in the predetermined format with ample possibilities to record the special items, if any, in whatever format the student chooses.
As he/she need not lie, one can hopefully and positively expect honesty and truth.
R.DHANASEKAR
Senior Lecturer & HOD i/c
SSM ITT & Polytechnic College
Komarapalayam-638183
Suggested format for recording the observations during
in-plant Training / Industrial Visit / Internship
Photograph of the studentName of the student :
Year and branch of study :
Register Number of the student :
Name and address of the Institution :
Staff Advisor’s name and designation:
Address of the student :
S.No.
Questionnaire
Data
1.
Name and address of the organisation /
work site / event:
(Enclose a brief description about the location - not more than one page)
2.
Day & Date of visit
3.
Time in:
4.
Time out:
5.
Name and Designation of the person(s) with whom the student interacted:
6.
Products / Services / Activities
7.
Output of the organisation
Per shift
Per Day
Per Week
Per Month
Per Annum
Inputs for the organisation
Per shift
Per Day
Per Week
Per Month
Per Annum
8.
Man power details (for larger organization – section wise breakup)
· Total Number of persons working
· Men
· Women
· Categories
(This page maybe Multiple copied to record about individual machineries / processes)
9.
Machinery / process description
Number of machines
Input
Output
Machinery manufacturer’s name & address.
Cost of purchase
Date / Year of purchase
Manpower required to operate the machine / process and the details of specific skills required to operate
Noise
Vibration
Heat
Maintenance procedure
Safety precautions adopted
Whether the student has studied about the machine / process during his study.
Whether, it is included in the forthcoming study period.
How many machines are idle? How long?
& Why? (Enclose in a separate sheet)
Energy consumption details
Types of fuel
Quantity consumed per unit time
Cost of fuel
Source of fuel
10.
Financial details
· Investment
· Operational Expenditure
· Manpower Cost
· Profit / Loss
11.
Layout of the work place / Shop Floor
(To be enclosed as appendix – I)
12.
Work flow diagram
(To be enclosed as appendix – II)
13.
Details regarding Safety and security
Emergency exits
Number and place of fire extinguishers
alarm bells
smoke and fire alarms
Sand buckets
First aid boxes
Access to medical care
14.
Facts about Pollution Control & Ecology Conservation
Number of trees
Greenery
Landscaping
How the waste is disposed off,
When
where
why
Cost
Waste re-usage details
Water sources
15.
Amenities
Drinking water
Canteen Facilities
Rest and recreation facilities
Sanitation
Transportation
Residences
16.
Standard certifications:
ISO 9000
ISO 14000
SA 8000
OHSA 18000
ISO-27000
Any other
17.
Awards / Prizes Won
18.
Physical location of the site in a Hand drawn map
(To be enclosed as appendix – III)
19.
Photographs of the student’s visit to the industry
(To be enclosed as appendix – IV)
20.
Information leaflets from the organization
(To be enclosed as appendix – V)
21.
During the period of stay of the student in the organization, Is there any specific, noteworthy event happened?
22.
What she/he likes in the organization most?
23.
What she/he does not like in the organization most?
24.
What she/he wants to change immediately?
25.
What she/he feels to change gradually?
26.
What are his/her ideas to improve the atmosphere prevailing in that organization?
27.
What facilities he/she feels to be done?
28.
In which area, he/she feels to take up some improvement / development activity utilizing his / her institute’s knowledge, skills and expertise?
29.
The opinion about the student by the organization’s contact person(s) with whom the student interacted during his/her stay in the organization.
(If possible get it in the form of a letter, so that a copy of the same may be enclosed)
30.
Any other details.
Note
1. If possible & feasible problem identification, diagnosis and solution can be considered even at the micro levels.
2. Faculty may also visit the organization for better institute industry interaction.
Friday, May 30, 2008
A HONEST ALTERNATIVE / SUBSTITUTE FOR THE CURRENT
A HONEST ALTERNATIVE / SUBSTITUTE FOR THE CURRENT
COLLEGE FINAL YEAR STUDENT’S PROJECT WORK SYSTEM
Merits of the present system
In many streams of higher education (Arts, Science, Commerce, Engineering, Technology, Law, Management, Medical and para-medical etc.) at different levels (Diploma, Degree, Post-Graduation), the final year students project works are considered as the ideal vehicles to carry forward the artistic / scientific / engineering / Technical/Management concepts, hypothesizes and ideas of the young students into real life practical world.
True, they are a viable, affordable, easy but excellent medium to express the students’ creativity. They are the optimum interfaces between the dreamy world of academic activities and the competitive world of pragmatic technical implementations.
There are many exemplary project works illustrating the untapped, under utilized and often unappreciated capacity of the fertile minds. Some are recognized with honours, handsome cash rewards, popular awards and ready industrial/commercial acceptance too. A few are path breaking and received well deserved patents also.
By any yard stick, these project works are invariably helping the willing students (with the thirst for learning and experimentation) to hone their skills in team forming, networking, coordinating, cooperating, compromising, adjusting, wordsmithing, report writing etc. to the extent they are equipped.
On the other side of the academic spectrum also, the project work system provides a healthy and refreshing intellectual challenge to the innovative teachers who are ready to range beyond the beaten tracks of syllabus oriented teaching and learning process.
Both the students and the staff can very well happily apply their academic knowledge to the real life problems with a sense of purpose, fun and joy. They have nothing to loose and every thing to gain, even if only one of their ideas/initiatives works out well. By chance, if nothing works out as per their plan, then also they have gained, because they have learnt a lot from their failures.
Then, what is the need for and the rationale behind the proposed honest alternative/substitute?
The disease within
Having said all this and more, we must admit rather sadly, the actual number of projects which will come under the above category is a clear minority. The vast majority of the college final year projects are churned out/bought off from the so called project training centers, computer centers and study centers, which are mushrooming every year in all the cities, towns and villages too. It is an ancillary industry for the rapidly expanding education business sector. If one choose to read a project work, even on a cursory glance, the courageous reader is very likely to encounter numerous mistakes in terms of spellings, grammar, syntax, right from the title, synopsis, abstract to the conclusion and the findings. Even in the acknowledgment page more often than not, numerous mistakes are frequently found and they come up with a hefty price tag, (literally in monetary terms) in the guise of training, guiding, hands on experience and enormous time wasted in those shady joints, where young students are hanging out without any supervision. It gives them a ready excuse for avoiding classes. And the parents are also watching the happenings helplessly, without much choice at their disposal.
Why the students are opting for this expensive, humiliating and dishonest procedure?
Because, the plain fact is, a good number of our students, even as groups are ill-equipped to identify, conceive, discuss, deliberate, execute and write an independent project report. Their vocabulary & word processing skills, sentence forming capability and proof reading expertise are poor. Simply put, it is beyond their intellectual capacity. Most of the staff members are also having the same handicap, as they themselves are the products of the very same existing system. Therefore, often they conveniently resort to outsourcing the project reports from the market, where the cost of these project reports are becoming less and less as the market is expanding rapidly. The only connection / relationship between the students and the project works is that they have paid for the project report in cash or, in worst cases, in kind.
About the contents of many of the bought out projects, it is better not to speak about it. They are, in general, pirated, shop lifted, wantonly copied, perjuriously produced, plagiarized works of somebody’s initiative.
One may very well argue that the basic purpose of the project work system is to help the students to acquire the very skills which they are not possessing at present. Alas, it is a very tall order to be achieved in a short time. (All people can eat, walk and talk. But it is not realistic to expect every one to cook wonderfully, sing melodiously, dance gracefully and act playfully). At best they learn to become street smart in dishonest plagiarism only. In putting the matter straightly in other words, we are forcing the students to become corrupt and dishonest in this project work system.
To sum up, it is, at best a mockery of the academic exercise and at worst a tragedy-cum-intellectual dishonesty. But still, if we look at from the academically ill equipped student’s point of view, it is a cruelty inflicted upon the young mind. Likewise, the harassed, overloaded and helpless faculty perceives it as an avoidable punishment to be endured which is thrust upon them year after year after year.
Stating the contours of this perennial problem is not very difficult but evolving an acceptable, efficient, purposeful and workable alternative needs a consultative, accommodative, practical approach among the academicians, students and other stake holders.
Modifications suggested to the present Project Work System
Let all of us be very clear that the current system of the project work be very well continued for the willing capable students and their interested faculty guides in the present format. The following modifications to improve the present system may kindly be considered depending on the circumstances prevailing at the individual institutions.
Number of students per batch should be flexible.
Practicing Experts should be invited to participate in the Project Works in terms of time, kind or cash.
Hands on / on site / in process analysis project works should be encouraged.
As a warm-up exercise, to begin with, a part of the pre-final year vacation should be devoted for the viable project identification. (By this time, the most of the students acquire some basic knowledge of the subjects of his educational programme). A few titles should be submitted to the potential guide / or head of the department at the commencement of the pre-final semester. With the selected guide’s concurrence, one definite and final title should be fine tuned. An abstract with action plans should be sent to the Project Monitoring Committee appointed by the examination authorities (Directorate’s of respective disciplines of education, Board of Studies, Universities, Professional Bodies/Societies etc.) for their approval. During the pre-final semester, sufficient time should be allocated to do the basic ground work, literature survey etc., for the project field work.
Follow up field work should be done during the pre-final semester vacation. During the final semester, sufficient time should be allocated to complete the project work atleast one month before the viva-voce. A copy of the project report must be sent to the examination authorities and another copy to the External Examiner atleast two weeks in advance of the viva-voce. For wider dissemination, by taking advantage of the spread of information technology, we may even publish it in the examination authorities web-sites. It will help us in reducing if not eliminating the rampant plagiarism which is shamelessly happening now almost everywhere.
What is the proposed honest alternative to the present project work system?
We propose an alternative by way of faithful and actual recording of a diary / journal / file of observation of whatever happening around him by the student during the industrial visit / in plant training / trade fair visits / internships, etc. The place of visit may be any thing where some relevant activity is going on with reference to the main study programme of the student. (Even if it is an internship with a celebrity/businessman/scientist/technologist it is alright). As long as she/he has something to observe and record, it will result in real learning.
How it can be implemented?
Let the observation record be a hand written work done on the field by the students individually. If it is bi-lingual (mother tongue as well as Medium of Instruction), it is all the more better. No need to insist on grammatical accuracy of the sentences, so that the student can write without hesitation and express what he/she observes truthfully.
We can programme our students to spend a predetermined minimum number of days at chosen organizations to record their observations in a prescribed format on allocated dates. This format which is enclosed herewith may not fit all, therefore, it can be modified / changed / adopted as per the requirements of the individuals, institutions and organizations.
It will improve the functional orientation of the students. It will keep them observant about what is currently happening in the real world. Above all, it is relevant to the ground realities in the field practical work. Therefore, what the student is observing, he/she is documenting easily and faithfully in the predetermined format with ample possibilities to record the special items if any in whatever format the student chooses.
As he/she need not lie, one can hopefully and positively expect honesty and truth.
R.DHANASEKAR
Senior Lecturer & HOD i/c
SSM ITT & Polytechnic College
Komarapalayam-638183
Suggested format for recording the observations during in-plant Training / Industrial Visit / Internship
Photograph of the studentName of the student :
Year and branch of study :
Register Number of the student :
Name and address of the Institution :
Staff Advisor’s name and designation:
Address of the student :
S.No.
Questionnaire
Data
1.
Name and address of the organisation / work site / event:
2.
Day & Date of visit
3.
Time in:
4.
Time out:
5.
Name of the person(s) with whom the student interacted:
6.
Designation
7.
Product / Service / Activities
8.
Capacity of the plant
9.
Machinery description
Number of machines
Type of machine
Machinery manufacturer address.
Cost of purchase
Date / Year of purchase
Manpower required to operate the machine
Whether specific skills required to operate
Noise, vibration etc.
Whether the student has studied about the machine during his study.
Whether, it is included in the forthcoming study period.
How many machines are idle?
How long?
Why?
10.
Man power details
11.
Energy consumption details
Financial details
Investment
Operational Expenditure
Manpower Cost
Profit / Loss
16.
Layout of the work place / Shop Floor
17.
Work flow diagram
18.
Details regarding Safety and security
Emergency exits, Number and place of fire extinguishers, alarm bells etc.
19.
Facts about Pollution Control & Ecology Conservation
How the waste is disposed off, when, where and why?
20.
Standard certifications:
ISO 9000
ISO 14000
SA 8000
OHSA 18000
ISO-27000
Any other
21.
Awards / Prizes Won
22.
Physical location of the site in a map
23.
Photographs of the student’s visit to the industry
24.
Information leaflets from the organization
25.
During the period of stay of the student in the organization, is there any specific, noteworthy event happened.
26.
What she/he likes in the organization most?
27.
What she/he does not like in the organization most?
28.
What she/he wants to change immediately?
29.
What she/he feels to change gradually?
30.
What his/her ideas to improve the atmosphere prevailing in that organization?
31.
What facilities he/she feels to be done?
32.
In which area, he/she feels to take up some improvement / development activity utilizing his institute’s knowledge, skills and expertise.
33.
The opinion about the student by the organization people with whom the student interacted during his stay in the organization.
34.
Any other details.
Note
1. If possible & feasible problem identification, diagnosis and solution can be considered even at the micro levels.
2. Faculty may also visit the organization for better institute industry interaction.
COLLEGE FINAL YEAR STUDENT’S PROJECT WORK SYSTEM
Merits of the present system
In many streams of higher education (Arts, Science, Commerce, Engineering, Technology, Law, Management, Medical and para-medical etc.) at different levels (Diploma, Degree, Post-Graduation), the final year students project works are considered as the ideal vehicles to carry forward the artistic / scientific / engineering / Technical/Management concepts, hypothesizes and ideas of the young students into real life practical world.
True, they are a viable, affordable, easy but excellent medium to express the students’ creativity. They are the optimum interfaces between the dreamy world of academic activities and the competitive world of pragmatic technical implementations.
There are many exemplary project works illustrating the untapped, under utilized and often unappreciated capacity of the fertile minds. Some are recognized with honours, handsome cash rewards, popular awards and ready industrial/commercial acceptance too. A few are path breaking and received well deserved patents also.
By any yard stick, these project works are invariably helping the willing students (with the thirst for learning and experimentation) to hone their skills in team forming, networking, coordinating, cooperating, compromising, adjusting, wordsmithing, report writing etc. to the extent they are equipped.
On the other side of the academic spectrum also, the project work system provides a healthy and refreshing intellectual challenge to the innovative teachers who are ready to range beyond the beaten tracks of syllabus oriented teaching and learning process.
Both the students and the staff can very well happily apply their academic knowledge to the real life problems with a sense of purpose, fun and joy. They have nothing to loose and every thing to gain, even if only one of their ideas/initiatives works out well. By chance, if nothing works out as per their plan, then also they have gained, because they have learnt a lot from their failures.
Then, what is the need for and the rationale behind the proposed honest alternative/substitute?
The disease within
Having said all this and more, we must admit rather sadly, the actual number of projects which will come under the above category is a clear minority. The vast majority of the college final year projects are churned out/bought off from the so called project training centers, computer centers and study centers, which are mushrooming every year in all the cities, towns and villages too. It is an ancillary industry for the rapidly expanding education business sector. If one choose to read a project work, even on a cursory glance, the courageous reader is very likely to encounter numerous mistakes in terms of spellings, grammar, syntax, right from the title, synopsis, abstract to the conclusion and the findings. Even in the acknowledgment page more often than not, numerous mistakes are frequently found and they come up with a hefty price tag, (literally in monetary terms) in the guise of training, guiding, hands on experience and enormous time wasted in those shady joints, where young students are hanging out without any supervision. It gives them a ready excuse for avoiding classes. And the parents are also watching the happenings helplessly, without much choice at their disposal.
Why the students are opting for this expensive, humiliating and dishonest procedure?
Because, the plain fact is, a good number of our students, even as groups are ill-equipped to identify, conceive, discuss, deliberate, execute and write an independent project report. Their vocabulary & word processing skills, sentence forming capability and proof reading expertise are poor. Simply put, it is beyond their intellectual capacity. Most of the staff members are also having the same handicap, as they themselves are the products of the very same existing system. Therefore, often they conveniently resort to outsourcing the project reports from the market, where the cost of these project reports are becoming less and less as the market is expanding rapidly. The only connection / relationship between the students and the project works is that they have paid for the project report in cash or, in worst cases, in kind.
About the contents of many of the bought out projects, it is better not to speak about it. They are, in general, pirated, shop lifted, wantonly copied, perjuriously produced, plagiarized works of somebody’s initiative.
One may very well argue that the basic purpose of the project work system is to help the students to acquire the very skills which they are not possessing at present. Alas, it is a very tall order to be achieved in a short time. (All people can eat, walk and talk. But it is not realistic to expect every one to cook wonderfully, sing melodiously, dance gracefully and act playfully). At best they learn to become street smart in dishonest plagiarism only. In putting the matter straightly in other words, we are forcing the students to become corrupt and dishonest in this project work system.
To sum up, it is, at best a mockery of the academic exercise and at worst a tragedy-cum-intellectual dishonesty. But still, if we look at from the academically ill equipped student’s point of view, it is a cruelty inflicted upon the young mind. Likewise, the harassed, overloaded and helpless faculty perceives it as an avoidable punishment to be endured which is thrust upon them year after year after year.
Stating the contours of this perennial problem is not very difficult but evolving an acceptable, efficient, purposeful and workable alternative needs a consultative, accommodative, practical approach among the academicians, students and other stake holders.
Modifications suggested to the present Project Work System
Let all of us be very clear that the current system of the project work be very well continued for the willing capable students and their interested faculty guides in the present format. The following modifications to improve the present system may kindly be considered depending on the circumstances prevailing at the individual institutions.
Number of students per batch should be flexible.
Practicing Experts should be invited to participate in the Project Works in terms of time, kind or cash.
Hands on / on site / in process analysis project works should be encouraged.
As a warm-up exercise, to begin with, a part of the pre-final year vacation should be devoted for the viable project identification. (By this time, the most of the students acquire some basic knowledge of the subjects of his educational programme). A few titles should be submitted to the potential guide / or head of the department at the commencement of the pre-final semester. With the selected guide’s concurrence, one definite and final title should be fine tuned. An abstract with action plans should be sent to the Project Monitoring Committee appointed by the examination authorities (Directorate’s of respective disciplines of education, Board of Studies, Universities, Professional Bodies/Societies etc.) for their approval. During the pre-final semester, sufficient time should be allocated to do the basic ground work, literature survey etc., for the project field work.
Follow up field work should be done during the pre-final semester vacation. During the final semester, sufficient time should be allocated to complete the project work atleast one month before the viva-voce. A copy of the project report must be sent to the examination authorities and another copy to the External Examiner atleast two weeks in advance of the viva-voce. For wider dissemination, by taking advantage of the spread of information technology, we may even publish it in the examination authorities web-sites. It will help us in reducing if not eliminating the rampant plagiarism which is shamelessly happening now almost everywhere.
What is the proposed honest alternative to the present project work system?
We propose an alternative by way of faithful and actual recording of a diary / journal / file of observation of whatever happening around him by the student during the industrial visit / in plant training / trade fair visits / internships, etc. The place of visit may be any thing where some relevant activity is going on with reference to the main study programme of the student. (Even if it is an internship with a celebrity/businessman/scientist/technologist it is alright). As long as she/he has something to observe and record, it will result in real learning.
How it can be implemented?
Let the observation record be a hand written work done on the field by the students individually. If it is bi-lingual (mother tongue as well as Medium of Instruction), it is all the more better. No need to insist on grammatical accuracy of the sentences, so that the student can write without hesitation and express what he/she observes truthfully.
We can programme our students to spend a predetermined minimum number of days at chosen organizations to record their observations in a prescribed format on allocated dates. This format which is enclosed herewith may not fit all, therefore, it can be modified / changed / adopted as per the requirements of the individuals, institutions and organizations.
It will improve the functional orientation of the students. It will keep them observant about what is currently happening in the real world. Above all, it is relevant to the ground realities in the field practical work. Therefore, what the student is observing, he/she is documenting easily and faithfully in the predetermined format with ample possibilities to record the special items if any in whatever format the student chooses.
As he/she need not lie, one can hopefully and positively expect honesty and truth.
R.DHANASEKAR
Senior Lecturer & HOD i/c
SSM ITT & Polytechnic College
Komarapalayam-638183
Suggested format for recording the observations during in-plant Training / Industrial Visit / Internship
Photograph of the studentName of the student :
Year and branch of study :
Register Number of the student :
Name and address of the Institution :
Staff Advisor’s name and designation:
Address of the student :
S.No.
Questionnaire
Data
1.
Name and address of the organisation / work site / event:
2.
Day & Date of visit
3.
Time in:
4.
Time out:
5.
Name of the person(s) with whom the student interacted:
6.
Designation
7.
Product / Service / Activities
8.
Capacity of the plant
9.
Machinery description
Number of machines
Type of machine
Machinery manufacturer address.
Cost of purchase
Date / Year of purchase
Manpower required to operate the machine
Whether specific skills required to operate
Noise, vibration etc.
Whether the student has studied about the machine during his study.
Whether, it is included in the forthcoming study period.
How many machines are idle?
How long?
Why?
10.
Man power details
11.
Energy consumption details
Financial details
Investment
Operational Expenditure
Manpower Cost
Profit / Loss
16.
Layout of the work place / Shop Floor
17.
Work flow diagram
18.
Details regarding Safety and security
Emergency exits, Number and place of fire extinguishers, alarm bells etc.
19.
Facts about Pollution Control & Ecology Conservation
How the waste is disposed off, when, where and why?
20.
Standard certifications:
ISO 9000
ISO 14000
SA 8000
OHSA 18000
ISO-27000
Any other
21.
Awards / Prizes Won
22.
Physical location of the site in a map
23.
Photographs of the student’s visit to the industry
24.
Information leaflets from the organization
25.
During the period of stay of the student in the organization, is there any specific, noteworthy event happened.
26.
What she/he likes in the organization most?
27.
What she/he does not like in the organization most?
28.
What she/he wants to change immediately?
29.
What she/he feels to change gradually?
30.
What his/her ideas to improve the atmosphere prevailing in that organization?
31.
What facilities he/she feels to be done?
32.
In which area, he/she feels to take up some improvement / development activity utilizing his institute’s knowledge, skills and expertise.
33.
The opinion about the student by the organization people with whom the student interacted during his stay in the organization.
34.
Any other details.
Note
1. If possible & feasible problem identification, diagnosis and solution can be considered even at the micro levels.
2. Faculty may also visit the organization for better institute industry interaction.
BIO-DATA
1. Name : R. DHANASEKAR
2. Address : 14, Raja Ganapathy Nagar
Water Office Road
Erode - 638 003,Tamilnadu State
E- mail: rdsdce@rediffmail.com
3. Date of Birth : 01.06.1961
4. Gender : Male
5. Educational Qualification :
S.No.
Examination Passed
Year of Passing
Institution / University
Percentage of Marks
1.
S.S.L.C.,
1977
Govt. High School, Tiruchengode – 637 211
79.2%
2.
P.U.C.,
1978
CN College,
Erode - 638 004
75.4%
3.
B. Tech ( Textile Technology )
1984
A.C. College of Technology
Anna University,
Chennai - 600 025
72%
4.
M.E. ( Computer Science & Engineering )
1993
College of Engineering
Anna University,
Chennai - 600 025
62%
5.
Diploma in Management
1994
Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi
Grade
6. Career Record : Since 1988, Serving as faculty in Textiles,
Computers and Management Sciences at S.S.M. ITT & PC.,
Komarapalayam – 638 183
Prior to joining the Academic World, served with Industry in India and East Africa for four years ( 1984 – 1988 )
7. Present Position : a. Senior Lecturer (UG) in the Dept. of
Textile Marketing & Management
b. HOD i/c - Dept. of Computer
Engineering
8. Fellowship Records :
i. ILO Fellowship to attend Small Enterprises Development Programme at ILO Turin Centre, Italy
ii. NFP Fellowship to attend Textile Technology and Management programme at IITM, Enschede, The Netherlands – 1988
iii. Cross Migration Programme Fellowship to do M.E. ( CSE ) at Anna University, Chennai. – 1990 to 1992
iv. ICTP Fellowship to attend a short-term programme on Microprocessor applications at ICTP, Trieste, Italy - 1998
9. Extra-Curricular Activities :
i. Co-ordinator – Youth Red Cross
ii. Volunteer – St. John’s Ambulance Association
iii. Quiz Master
iv. Organiser - ECO Club ( 1996 – 2001 )
v. Founder Patron Member - Textile Association (India )- Erode Unit
Member - Organizing committee TAI Conferences - Erode Unit
10. Co-Curricular Responsibilities :
i. Process Champion – CIICP ( 1999 – 2004 )
( Canada India Institutional Cooperation Project )
ii. Linkage Development Manager – CIICP ( 2005 - )
iii. Co-ordinator ISTE Summer School on “ ERP for SMEs ( August 2003 )
iv. Secretary - ISTE Chapter ( 2005 - )
v. Resource Person – NBA Accreditation Process,
CIICP Replication Process
11. List of Publications / Conference / Seminar Papers :
i. Supply Chain Management - IT Applications
ii. Role of IT in Rural Development
iii. Sustainable Growth in Technical Education – Productivity Improvement
iv. Cafeteria Approach for Technical Education – Flexible Curricula
v. A data acquisition and analysis system for small scale spinning mills
vi. Ways and Means to combat Noise Pollution in Small Scale Weaving Units
vii. Problems and Prospects of WAP
2. Address : 14, Raja Ganapathy Nagar
Water Office Road
Erode - 638 003,Tamilnadu State
E- mail: rdsdce@rediffmail.com
3. Date of Birth : 01.06.1961
4. Gender : Male
5. Educational Qualification :
S.No.
Examination Passed
Year of Passing
Institution / University
Percentage of Marks
1.
S.S.L.C.,
1977
Govt. High School, Tiruchengode – 637 211
79.2%
2.
P.U.C.,
1978
CN College,
Erode - 638 004
75.4%
3.
B. Tech ( Textile Technology )
1984
A.C. College of Technology
Anna University,
Chennai - 600 025
72%
4.
M.E. ( Computer Science & Engineering )
1993
College of Engineering
Anna University,
Chennai - 600 025
62%
5.
Diploma in Management
1994
Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi
Grade
6. Career Record : Since 1988, Serving as faculty in Textiles,
Computers and Management Sciences at S.S.M. ITT & PC.,
Komarapalayam – 638 183
Prior to joining the Academic World, served with Industry in India and East Africa for four years ( 1984 – 1988 )
7. Present Position : a. Senior Lecturer (UG) in the Dept. of
Textile Marketing & Management
b. HOD i/c - Dept. of Computer
Engineering
8. Fellowship Records :
i. ILO Fellowship to attend Small Enterprises Development Programme at ILO Turin Centre, Italy
ii. NFP Fellowship to attend Textile Technology and Management programme at IITM, Enschede, The Netherlands – 1988
iii. Cross Migration Programme Fellowship to do M.E. ( CSE ) at Anna University, Chennai. – 1990 to 1992
iv. ICTP Fellowship to attend a short-term programme on Microprocessor applications at ICTP, Trieste, Italy - 1998
9. Extra-Curricular Activities :
i. Co-ordinator – Youth Red Cross
ii. Volunteer – St. John’s Ambulance Association
iii. Quiz Master
iv. Organiser - ECO Club ( 1996 – 2001 )
v. Founder Patron Member - Textile Association (India )- Erode Unit
Member - Organizing committee TAI Conferences - Erode Unit
10. Co-Curricular Responsibilities :
i. Process Champion – CIICP ( 1999 – 2004 )
( Canada India Institutional Cooperation Project )
ii. Linkage Development Manager – CIICP ( 2005 - )
iii. Co-ordinator ISTE Summer School on “ ERP for SMEs ( August 2003 )
iv. Secretary - ISTE Chapter ( 2005 - )
v. Resource Person – NBA Accreditation Process,
CIICP Replication Process
11. List of Publications / Conference / Seminar Papers :
i. Supply Chain Management - IT Applications
ii. Role of IT in Rural Development
iii. Sustainable Growth in Technical Education – Productivity Improvement
iv. Cafeteria Approach for Technical Education – Flexible Curricula
v. A data acquisition and analysis system for small scale spinning mills
vi. Ways and Means to combat Noise Pollution in Small Scale Weaving Units
vii. Problems and Prospects of WAP
RATIONALISATION IN YARN SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
ABSTRACT
The present yarn supply chain management system for the small and medium enterprises is inefficient by virtue of following the age old process of unnecessary unloading and reloading the yarn at the intermediaries’ premises. Given the enormous developments happened in the logistics systems and Information & Communication Technology, we can very well eliminate this time consuming and expensive practice. This paper attempts an approach to reduce, if not eliminate, this inefficiency and, a simple method to enhance the profit and productivity of yarn supply chain management process.
INTRODUCTION
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) by virtue of their inherent nature and activities, are unable to achieve the economics of scale in their inward or outward supply chain processes. Thereby, they are loosing their competitive edge in comparison with large enterprises.
Prudent applications of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) will help SMEs to overcome this avoidable obstacle by reducing their procurement / distribution expenditure in terms of time, money, and inventory cost. Naturally the profits will also significantly add up.
The following case analysis is particularly meant for SMEs in textile weaving sector with a specific reference to yarn supply chain management (from spinning mills to weaving units/ warping and sizing units / yarn dyeing units).
Nevertheless, it can be applied to any sector of industry / service where the raw materials are of commodity type.
For example
a) Transport of cement bags from factories to construction sites,
b) Rice / Wheat / groceries from millers,
c) vegetables & other perishable goods from farms to consumers(hotels, hostels / marriage houses / temples / canteens / industrial & domestic caterers / big joint families etc.).
Analysis of existing Supply Chain Process in Textile SMEs Weaving Sector.
Presently, due to the small lot purchase of yarn from spinning mills by the SMEs, they are paying more money per unit of procurement. Because, the spinning mills are supplying to the trade intermediaries (yarn merchants, stockiests, brokers etc.,) and they in turn supply the yarn to various SMEs in weaving sector. It involves essential loading operation of yarn to the transport vehicle in the spinning mills, avoidable unloading, safe keeping and reloading operations at the yarn traders’ premises and subsequent essential unloading operation at the weavers’ premises/ warping / sizing units / yarn dyeing unit.
Due to this avoidable operations, the cost of yarn increases from 0.3 % to 2 % depending upon the distance, warehousing and the time factors.
Flow Chart of the Present Yarn Marketing Arrangement for SMEs
SPINNING MILL
YARN
MONEY
GODOWN OF MIDDLEMEN
MONEY YARN
CONSUMERS’ FACTORY GATE
Figure 1
In some cases, the distribution chain may have even more layers of unloading and loading and safe keeping activities. It is obviously inefficient.
Stating the problem is easy.
How to Make it Efficient?
Whenever the need arises from the bonafide consumer, she / he can order the required quality and quantity of the yarn from the spinning mills, either through middle men or through association of consumers or directly. After ensuring payment details / credit worthiness, the yarn can be delivered at the consumers’ door steps at the right time directly from the mills by combining significant number of small lot orders from the same region.
Flow Chart for the proposed SCM for Textile Weaving SMEs
SPINNING MILL
DIRECT
DELIVERY OF
YARN
ACTUAL PAYMENT &
CONSUMER
FEEDBACK
PAYMENT NEGOTIATIONS &
CREDIT AUTHORISATIONS
THROUGH MIDDLEMEN
CONSUMERS’ FACTORY GATE
(WEAVING / WARPING / SIZING UNITS / YARN DYING UNITS)
Figure 2
PRACTICAL SIGNIFICANCE
What are We Gaining by this Processes ?
1. The unloading and loading of yarn in the intermediaries’ godowns is totally eliminated.
2. The cost of warehousing at the middlemen’s facility is avoided
3. Time delay involved in the supply process from the spinning mill to the consumer gate is nullified
4. The possibility of yarn damage in transit is minimised.
How Payment Can be Ensured ?
The present role and the significance of the intermediaries are not at all eliminated. In fact, she/ he is the main link between supplier and the buyer. Therefore, she/he acts as a buffer between them. In many cases, the buyers’ financials credentials are authenticated by the intermediary only.
In the proposed IT based supply chain management system, What he is not doing is, the safe keeping of yarn in his facilities.
If a handful of people only ( one or two mills / and one or two buyers ) are involved, simple cell phone/ telephone calls will do wonderfully. But, in the real world, numerous suppliers, intermediaries and buyers are involved. Therefore, we should use a web based information system to display the following information.
1. The availability of yarn (with all possible technical and commercial details) at the various mills.
2. The route map & delivery schedule of transport vehicles from spinning mills to major weaving regions with information related to time, transport cost, accepted intermediaries addresses (banks, financial agencies, credit guarantors, agents ) etc.
These two sets of information should be periodically updated to make it meaningful and worthwhile.
This electronic display of all the relevant information both in the internet and the cell phone based specially created trading portal, regarding trading will cut down the cost of procurement significantly.
Further, it will reduce the cost of inventory at every stage of yarn production and consumption. A bonus point is the avoidance of quality deterioration at the totally unnecessary and easily avoidable intermediate unloading, safe keeping and loading operations.
What are the possible hurdles for the proposed system?
1. Middlemen (as they are likely to get mariginalised in this process)
2. Expensive warehouse owners in trading towns ( as they are loosing their lucrative rent / lease income )
3. The unloading and loading operators at the middlemen’s facilities ( they are loosing their livelihood )
4. Transporters ( now, as their unloading operations are fragmented)
5. Last, but not the least, our mind set in keeping the trading operation details unnecessarily secret.
Description of the Proposed System
Cell phones are a very common but sophisticated Information and Communication Technology devices available with almost every one in the trade. Therefore, it is not a Herculean task to interact with the various stake holders of this supply chain management system by creating suitable template. Given the huge capacity available in the telecommunication sector an IVRS (Interactive Voice Response System) will be much beneficial We have attempted a sample template to be viewed in the cell phone screen or in the web pages for discussion and refinement.
To access this supply chain system the customer should have an user id and password either individually or in association with like minded customers. All the registered and potential customers should be given familirisation sessions at important yarn trading / consuming markets. Further it is needless to say, online Internet based help desk / promotional campaigns accompanied with road shows and print media awareness campaigns will help in popularizing / gaining acceptance of this system.
Customer(s) Queries
A) User id and Password
B) Count of the yarn and quantity required :
C) Date, time and place of delivery :
D) Choice of Mills :
The customer(s) need not enter all the above text. By just pressing the Alphabets they can order the yarn of their choice.
Supply Chain System Response
Yarn Price :
Transporters Name(s) :
Transport tariff :
Accepted intermediaries / Banks / Credit guarantee agencies
Customers contact with Intermediaries / Banks / Credit guarantee agencies for financial conclusion
On approval from the financial front, the transaction is completed.
CONCLUSION
1. Creation of Cell phone (Messaging & IVRS facility) / web based trading portal with easy interactivity: regional language content should be ensured
2. Educating all the stakeholders about the benefits of this system.
3. Demonstrating the cost reduction possibilities.
4. Involving all the stakeholders in the planning stage itself
Spinning mills
Weaving units / warping units / sizing units
Transporters
Inter mediators ( yarn merchants, stockiests, brokers)
Web page content developers in association with cell phone service providers
Associations of spinning/ weaving/ yarn trading sectors
Bankers / financial institutions / credit guarantee agencies
The present yarn supply chain management system for the small and medium enterprises is inefficient by virtue of following the age old process of unnecessary unloading and reloading the yarn at the intermediaries’ premises. Given the enormous developments happened in the logistics systems and Information & Communication Technology, we can very well eliminate this time consuming and expensive practice. This paper attempts an approach to reduce, if not eliminate, this inefficiency and, a simple method to enhance the profit and productivity of yarn supply chain management process.
INTRODUCTION
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) by virtue of their inherent nature and activities, are unable to achieve the economics of scale in their inward or outward supply chain processes. Thereby, they are loosing their competitive edge in comparison with large enterprises.
Prudent applications of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) will help SMEs to overcome this avoidable obstacle by reducing their procurement / distribution expenditure in terms of time, money, and inventory cost. Naturally the profits will also significantly add up.
The following case analysis is particularly meant for SMEs in textile weaving sector with a specific reference to yarn supply chain management (from spinning mills to weaving units/ warping and sizing units / yarn dyeing units).
Nevertheless, it can be applied to any sector of industry / service where the raw materials are of commodity type.
For example
a) Transport of cement bags from factories to construction sites,
b) Rice / Wheat / groceries from millers,
c) vegetables & other perishable goods from farms to consumers(hotels, hostels / marriage houses / temples / canteens / industrial & domestic caterers / big joint families etc.).
Analysis of existing Supply Chain Process in Textile SMEs Weaving Sector.
Presently, due to the small lot purchase of yarn from spinning mills by the SMEs, they are paying more money per unit of procurement. Because, the spinning mills are supplying to the trade intermediaries (yarn merchants, stockiests, brokers etc.,) and they in turn supply the yarn to various SMEs in weaving sector. It involves essential loading operation of yarn to the transport vehicle in the spinning mills, avoidable unloading, safe keeping and reloading operations at the yarn traders’ premises and subsequent essential unloading operation at the weavers’ premises/ warping / sizing units / yarn dyeing unit.
Due to this avoidable operations, the cost of yarn increases from 0.3 % to 2 % depending upon the distance, warehousing and the time factors.
Flow Chart of the Present Yarn Marketing Arrangement for SMEs
SPINNING MILL
YARN
MONEY
GODOWN OF MIDDLEMEN
MONEY YARN
CONSUMERS’ FACTORY GATE
Figure 1
In some cases, the distribution chain may have even more layers of unloading and loading and safe keeping activities. It is obviously inefficient.
Stating the problem is easy.
How to Make it Efficient?
Whenever the need arises from the bonafide consumer, she / he can order the required quality and quantity of the yarn from the spinning mills, either through middle men or through association of consumers or directly. After ensuring payment details / credit worthiness, the yarn can be delivered at the consumers’ door steps at the right time directly from the mills by combining significant number of small lot orders from the same region.
Flow Chart for the proposed SCM for Textile Weaving SMEs
SPINNING MILL
DIRECT
DELIVERY OF
YARN
ACTUAL PAYMENT &
CONSUMER
FEEDBACK
PAYMENT NEGOTIATIONS &
CREDIT AUTHORISATIONS
THROUGH MIDDLEMEN
CONSUMERS’ FACTORY GATE
(WEAVING / WARPING / SIZING UNITS / YARN DYING UNITS)
Figure 2
PRACTICAL SIGNIFICANCE
What are We Gaining by this Processes ?
1. The unloading and loading of yarn in the intermediaries’ godowns is totally eliminated.
2. The cost of warehousing at the middlemen’s facility is avoided
3. Time delay involved in the supply process from the spinning mill to the consumer gate is nullified
4. The possibility of yarn damage in transit is minimised.
How Payment Can be Ensured ?
The present role and the significance of the intermediaries are not at all eliminated. In fact, she/ he is the main link between supplier and the buyer. Therefore, she/he acts as a buffer between them. In many cases, the buyers’ financials credentials are authenticated by the intermediary only.
In the proposed IT based supply chain management system, What he is not doing is, the safe keeping of yarn in his facilities.
If a handful of people only ( one or two mills / and one or two buyers ) are involved, simple cell phone/ telephone calls will do wonderfully. But, in the real world, numerous suppliers, intermediaries and buyers are involved. Therefore, we should use a web based information system to display the following information.
1. The availability of yarn (with all possible technical and commercial details) at the various mills.
2. The route map & delivery schedule of transport vehicles from spinning mills to major weaving regions with information related to time, transport cost, accepted intermediaries addresses (banks, financial agencies, credit guarantors, agents ) etc.
These two sets of information should be periodically updated to make it meaningful and worthwhile.
This electronic display of all the relevant information both in the internet and the cell phone based specially created trading portal, regarding trading will cut down the cost of procurement significantly.
Further, it will reduce the cost of inventory at every stage of yarn production and consumption. A bonus point is the avoidance of quality deterioration at the totally unnecessary and easily avoidable intermediate unloading, safe keeping and loading operations.
What are the possible hurdles for the proposed system?
1. Middlemen (as they are likely to get mariginalised in this process)
2. Expensive warehouse owners in trading towns ( as they are loosing their lucrative rent / lease income )
3. The unloading and loading operators at the middlemen’s facilities ( they are loosing their livelihood )
4. Transporters ( now, as their unloading operations are fragmented)
5. Last, but not the least, our mind set in keeping the trading operation details unnecessarily secret.
Description of the Proposed System
Cell phones are a very common but sophisticated Information and Communication Technology devices available with almost every one in the trade. Therefore, it is not a Herculean task to interact with the various stake holders of this supply chain management system by creating suitable template. Given the huge capacity available in the telecommunication sector an IVRS (Interactive Voice Response System) will be much beneficial We have attempted a sample template to be viewed in the cell phone screen or in the web pages for discussion and refinement.
To access this supply chain system the customer should have an user id and password either individually or in association with like minded customers. All the registered and potential customers should be given familirisation sessions at important yarn trading / consuming markets. Further it is needless to say, online Internet based help desk / promotional campaigns accompanied with road shows and print media awareness campaigns will help in popularizing / gaining acceptance of this system.
Customer(s) Queries
A) User id and Password
B) Count of the yarn and quantity required :
C) Date, time and place of delivery :
D) Choice of Mills :
The customer(s) need not enter all the above text. By just pressing the Alphabets they can order the yarn of their choice.
Supply Chain System Response
Yarn Price :
Transporters Name(s) :
Transport tariff :
Accepted intermediaries / Banks / Credit guarantee agencies
Customers contact with Intermediaries / Banks / Credit guarantee agencies for financial conclusion
On approval from the financial front, the transaction is completed.
CONCLUSION
1. Creation of Cell phone (Messaging & IVRS facility) / web based trading portal with easy interactivity: regional language content should be ensured
2. Educating all the stakeholders about the benefits of this system.
3. Demonstrating the cost reduction possibilities.
4. Involving all the stakeholders in the planning stage itself
Spinning mills
Weaving units / warping units / sizing units
Transporters
Inter mediators ( yarn merchants, stockiests, brokers)
Web page content developers in association with cell phone service providers
Associations of spinning/ weaving/ yarn trading sectors
Bankers / financial institutions / credit guarantee agencies
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