How can you involve industry experts in curriculum development?

It is interesting and at the same time difficult task to involve industrial needs in a program. However, the initial stage should be define the needs of industry through questionnaire or similar means to identify problems of fully academic curriculum. The questionnaire should measure and reveal the needs of industry in a viable way. The industry is more leaned towards the problem-solution-execute triangle and this may not be always compatible with academia. There should be a stage for collecting topics and possible lecture titles and then filter them and find personnel to teach them. It should be so well organised that students should also be involved in industry and see the benefit of attending those lectures.

This is an important and impactful approach to the programme development and review. The industry can present the topic issues and competency skills they require in the works place matching them with the exit level outcomes in the programme/ qualification offered in the institution. They can be involved in the programme content to clarify areas of concern in the unpacking of the learning programme.

It is difficult for educators to connect with industry a lot of times and of course, manage and match the industry in financials but there are very many folks ready or rather waiting to volunteer to contribute to education, awareness and career and industry insights. Say, while teaching Marketing Mix, a Marketing person can share great insights from the industry that worked or didn’t work. It’s a great boost in learning for the children and put their theoretical knowledge into context. It’s a boon for students who are not very inclined towards theoretical or academic learning but are waiting for some hands on learning.

Curriculum integration to promote skill development certainly needs proactive and sustained involvement with industry experts. And yes there are a whole lot of activities done by some schools distributed sporadically throughout the year like Skills Mela(fete), Community engagement programs and visits by industry experts. It would be a great idea to involve the industry experts to give a periodic availability over a period of time for the students to actually develop an interest in a certain skill followed by a short descriptive portfolio feedback that the learners can work upon to enhance the skill. Too much detailing into curriculum design at school level with less hands-on could make it sound like a daunting task.

Aligning the industry expectations and curriculum design is one of the major goals of NEP 2020. Skill Development and employability enhancement can be worked on by identifying the skill gaps through various methods such as Industy Academia collaboration- Guest Lectures for 1st years, Field Visits, Panel discussions, Greet & Meet programs for 2nd years, Internships and live projects for 3rd and 4th year students along with Extra Credit courses, Certificate and diploma programs. While designing curriculum, careful selection of industry experts is essential ( eg- B.B.A.LL.B PROGRAM, we can have experienced lawyers, practicing/ retired judges, Corporate leaders, NGO, experienced teachers (Multidisciplinary) for industry ready students.

I truly believe that industry experts should be involved from the basic stages of curriculum development- planning the year wise courses to the content management of each course. Flexibility in changing courses and content as per changing industry needs and content development to ensure practical development should be understood. Evaluation and Assessment Criteria too needs to be changed if we want skill development (revised Blooms Taxonomy). Industry Readiness Program (as per the discipline) needs to be designed by educational institutions to ensure employability. Every educator needs to identify potential job opportunities of their courses and accordingly identify and include industry people in various roles.