Employability issues are a narrative created by the corporate world

Prof Yogesh Singh is the 23rd vice chancellor of the century-old University of Delhi (DU). An engineer with a PhD in computer engineering, Singh has an impressive track record of teaching, innovation and research in the area of software engineering. He has more than 250 publications and his book, Software Testing, published by the Cambridge University Press, is well-received internationally. In an interview with THE WEEK, Singh talks about trends in higher education in India, the challenges faced by big universities, and how to make higher education more interesting. Asked about the perception that Indian graduates are “not employable”, he reacts strongly, and emphasises the difference between training and higher education. Edited excerpts:

- ABHINAV SINGH

Interview

Prof Yogesh Singh, vice chancellor, University of Delhi

Q What are the trends in higher education in India and how do they compare with the west?

A Higher education in our country is passing through a transformative phase. Many provisions of the National Education Policy 2020 were not there earlier. Now every institution is implementing the NEP. So things are improving at the ground level. We also need to understand that proper emphasis had not been given earlier to skill and value education. The purpose of education is also to make good human beings. In the higher education scenario, things were missing earlier. We are incorporating those in the curriculum.

Another interesting aspect is the new credits system. For instance, if someone wants to play or wants to take sports as an elective, then credits are assigned to the course and those may be given to the student. Now, there is a system for assigning credit to such courses. Many good things are happening in the higher education institution. The NEP has given us a platform to experiment.

Q What changes have you made in your curriculum?

A We are in the process of implementing the NEP and are designing a new curriculum. We are continuously improving it. Now it is research-based and research-intensive. This promotes conceptual understanding. By the next academic session, we will have the revived MPhil (Clinical Psychology); MPhil was not under the NEP. There are also the programmes started last year, such as Hindu studies, Korean studies and BA LLB five-year programme.