Technical Education dept set to showcase projects of polytechnic and ITI students across Bengal

Kolkata: In a bid to encourage students of polytechnics and industrial training institute (ITI) students across the state to churn out innovative models or projects, the state Technical Education department has decided to hold exhibitions for showcasing their work.

"Our students put in a lot of hard work while making their projects, which is an integral part of their curriculum. But till date, they have not got enough scope to put their projects on display. So we have decided to conduct an exhibition and competition and accordingly award some of the best models," Technical Education, Training and Skill Development minister Purnendu Basu said.

It has been learnt that the department is planning to hold the exhibition soon at the Kudghat ITI in Tollygunge, South Kolkata. The department has started making an assessment of the land of the polytechnic and ITI institutes to examine the scope for developing the infrastructure.

"Our main aim is to ensure that students in our institutes get the training catering to the demand of the industry. So we are working towards upgrading the existing training module," Basu said. At present, there are 240 ITIs, including both government and private and more than 162 polytechnics, both private and government, in the state.

The department has recently held a meeting with principals of ITI and Polytechnic colleges across the state, to take stock of the utilisation of funds and the plans for the future, "There were complaints that some of the institutes have not properly used the funds disbursed by the government," a senior official of the department said.

The minister is also emphasising on performance monitoring of the institutes by reviewing the progress of pending work. The department is also working on introducing a uniform transfer policy, for the reshuffling of teachers. "We are submitting a weekly report to the minister, which is also being sent to the Chief Secretary," the official said.

The minister himself is holding a review meeting at least once in a month and the performance level of a number of institutes has improved. "Nearly a dozen of these institutes have the potential to become Centres of Excellence. We are also looking into this aspect seriously," Basu added.

The department is also pushing for reintroduction of apprentices in the industries. "There are still nearly 65 jute mills in the state. We are urging them to take in trained workers from our institutes," an official said.