The Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education (APSCHE) on Friday conducted the third round of the roundtable German-AP Forum on Higher Education on the topic ‘The Era of Emerging Trends in Engineering Education-Career Opportunities in Germany’ in virtual mode.
The APSCHE, in partnership with the German Varsity for Advanced Studies and Indo-Euro Synchronisation, had created a platform to promote higher education. The German-AP Forum on Higher Education proposed a roundtable action plan for six months (initiated on November 5, 2021) to improve standards and international opportunities for students of Andhra Pradesh.
Education Minister Adimulapu Suresh was the chief guest while Principal Secretary, Department of Higher Education J. Syamala Rao and APSCHE Chairman K. Hemachandra Reddy spoke on various key aspects.
The session focused on providing access to students to the employment-linked higher education opportunities in Germany to the students of Andhra Pradesh and exploring the best practices of Germany which could be adopted in the engineering education of the State. The primary objective is to forge research cooperation, bilateral coordination and collaboration for joint degree programmes between the universities of Andhra Pradesh and Germany.
The roundtable mainly discussed three aspects of learning— skill-based learning, internship-based learning and employment-based learning.
Research Director at European Centre for Mechatronics, FH Aachen University, Germany Prof. Ing. Gunther Starke, Chairman of Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation K. Ajay Reddy and Vice-Chancellor of Andhra University P.V.G.D. Prasad Reddy spoke about skill-based learning.
Vice-president, faculty of Robotics, University of Kempten, Germany Prof. Ing. Dirk Jacob, Andhra Pradesh Electronics and Information Technology Agency CEO Nanda Kishore and Vice-Chancellor of JNTU-Anantapur G. Ranga Janardhan threw light on internship-based learning while managing director, Faculty of Sustainability Studies, SGIT- Steinbeis University, Germany Prof. Bertram Lohmuller, CEO of Andhra Pradesh Information Technology Academy (APITA) T. Anil Kumar and Vice-Chancellor of JNTU-Kakinada G.V.R. Prasada Raju participated in a panel discussion on employment-based learning.
Mr. Hemachandra Reddy said the discussions stressed on a curriculum directed towards addressing the needs of the industry, multi-sectoral cooperation of different branches of engineering, upskilling students in emerging technologies, skill-based learning integrated to formal learning and stimulation scenarios to get practical learning.
Blended skilling programmes, competition-based learning, establishment of Industry Advisory Board in each department, virtual internships, micro internships, linking local projects with the industry, Pre-Master India programme, dual degree programmes and multi-skilling training programmes were the key takeaway points from the discussions, he said.
