Transforming Higher Education Through Skill-Based Learning: Are Universities Ready For The Shift?

By Supriya Pattanayak

While the importance of skill-based education was always felt, 2024 recognised this, and more and more efforts were put in to provide the right learning ground for students. Universities partnered with industries to provide the students with a hands-on learning experience while they studied theory in their classes. There are manufacturing units, Action Labs and incubated social enterprises that give the right exposure to students. Likewise, a student studying any aspect of agriculture is attuned with the latest technology and farming techniques. 

Such a partnership between industry and academia makes students ready to take on the challenges of Industry 5.0 and become leaders and job providers instead of job seekers. However, the universities offering skill-based courses can be counted on one hand, and there is still a long way to go. 

The Government is actively encouraging the development of a workforce prepared for industry through a number of initiatives, including the introduction of the National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF) along with National Occupational Standards (NOS) in higher education. These certificates, recognised across the nation, are of a few months in duration and will make them job-ready in no time at all. Thus, students pursuing such certificate courses in a field of their choice will make them employable. Again, many universities still offer traditional courses and require students to pursue graduate and postgraduate courses. 

B.Voc degrees, which enable students to learn on the job as well, are offered by a small number of colleges across the country. Here, businesses and academic institutions work together to create a course structure that successfully blends theory with real-world application, enabling students to learn while they work. 

Business, Jobs Exposure

The students have numerous NSQF certifications by the time they graduate from college, which increases their business exposure and job opportunities. In comparison to the practical training offered at Action Learning Labs, these types of experiences are always better than one- to four-week internships that offer a limited view of the field. 

Certain universities and colleges offer Diplomas. One to two years in duration, they can help students specialise in their chosen field and with skill-integrated education, they will be ready to enter industry 5.0 soon. 

Students can choose to pursue a regular bachelor’s program after making themselves economically stable, where the credit of the diploma will be counted equivalent to a relevant number of years. The lateral entry system enables students to pursue education despite gaps. This way, students can pace out their education up to PhD level, continuing as and when it is comfortable for them. 

We must use the educational system to develop entrepreneurs as well. Higher education must employ a curriculum model that blends academic knowledge with practical experience in order to prepare students for the corporate world. Enhancing employability and encouraging entrepreneurship must be a university's top priorities. 

Establishing production facilities on campus for goods like apparel, furniture, paper and chalk, transformers, and e-vehicles is one way to achieve this. Product creation and design must also be given top emphasis since they provide students with the confidence they need to launch their own businesses. Theoretically, this might sound great, but in the field, we need more and more universities to adopt inclusive and skill-based education. 

Adapting AI

As AI has seeped into all aspects of our lives, 2024 brought with it the challenges of ensuring that the students are in tune with the changing times. Thus, the university has introduced subjects such as Prompt Engineering using ChatGPT, Generative AI as part of the Engineering course. Data Analytics, Machine Learning Network, and Variational Auto Encoders are also subjects that will be in demand in the near future. 

Also, to support the increasing population, the health sector will need more personnel, thus, courses in Allied Health Sciences will enable students to embark on a successful career, which will surely be in demand. Thus, we learnt the lesson that we must think futuristically and prepare our students for what they might be facing in the near future. Courses like BVoc that enable students to work and study will be the solution for those who cannot pursue higher education due to financial constraints. 

Also, in 2025, we will be aligning Indian knowledge systems with basic sciences, and thus, courses in such streams will become popular. Moreover, there will be a greater focus on online education in regional languages. This will enable even the poorest of students to gain education without the language becoming a barrier in their endeavour for education.

(The author is the Vice Chancellor, Centurion University, Odisha)

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