The unused potential of our engineering colleges
Kerala has been trying to overcome massive flood damage to lives and property. During these hard times, it’s crucial that we all stand together and contribute to rebuilding the state in every way we can. Linways, being in the educational industry has been interacting with teachers and academicians for quite some time now, and we think one very interesting idea put forward by an academician could help us not just survive, but also to rise together stronger than ever.
Here’s the concept:
“Why do we use medical college for medical research and treatments, but not engineering colleges for our engineering needs?”
It’s especially relevant at a time like this, here in Kerala. We just witnessed some huge losses from landslides, water damage, etc. We saw our whole community uniting together beyond any differences like religion or politics. The youngsters have been very active in helping the affected, and coordinating the search and rescue. We have this huge potential, of hundreds of governmental and non-governmental engineering colleges, and their research and implementation capabilities at our disposal. If we could somehow tap into that unused potential, it’s fairly obvious that we can rebuild lost houses, buildings, bridges, roads, mechanical establishments, electrical stations, and more with relatively lesser overhead across the state.
By pointing towards colleges, we don’t intend that we put too much responsibility in the hands of the students and learners. The colleges can take these up as projects, where their experienced faculty, students, and the public service authorities work hand-in-hand. The government can assign certain project to an engineering department in a college nearby, and their faculty and students can lend a hand in finding an efficient solution.
For instance, the civil department can help out PWD engineers in renovating bridges that was heavily damaged in the flood. Or the electrical department can help out the state electricity board in finding and fixing power supply in affected areas.
The authorities can delegate work between the colleges, and they can overview the whole process to make sure that everything is in order. This is a win-win situation for everyone. The government gets a huge workload off it’s shoulders, as the above mentioned departments can pitch in from the planning phase till the execution, and the colleges can improve the quality of the education they provide with actual community-based projects that they can provide for their students.
If you would like to know more about the blog which we wrote on this topic, you can read it here:
So we have been blind to the possibilities of this till now. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t start utilising it in the future. It’s up to each and every one of us, as a community, to bring forth new and better ways to develop our nation. We believe in the potential of our teachers and students. We should be able to rely on ourselves when the need arises, and this is a great opportunity to rethink how we adapt and evolve to these kinds of situations.
PS: This is a suggestion that we think could benefit our community. You are indeed welcome to share your thoughts and perspectives on this topic down here at the comments. We look forward in discussing it with you.
Also published on Medium.
