All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), in association with the internship and training platform, Internshala, conducted Internship Day Ceremony on 25th August at the AICTE Headquarters in New Delhi. The event was attended by Dr Satya Pal Singh, Minister of State (MHRD), Dr Anil Sahasrabudhe, AICTE Chairman, and other esteemed dignitaries from AICTE along with 170 Training and Placement heads from AICTE-affiliated colleges all over India.
The event was organised to honour and acknowledge the colleges who have made remarkable efforts in helping their students secure internships during the months of April - July. 8100 students from AICTE-affiliated colleges landed an internship through Internshala in the summer of 2018.
The top 3 colleges with the best internship records are Manipal Institute of Technology, Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology, and Chandigarh University. Over 40 other colleges were also felicitated during the ceremony for different categories like zonal-level winners, most innovative colleges, and notable mentions.
The Minister of State (MHRD) and Chief Guest of the event, Dr. Satya Pal Singh talked on the importance of practical learning through internships across different domains, especially in the rural areas in India. He appreciated the efforts made by AICTE to improve the employability of students by taking various steps including mandating internships for all the students enrolled in AICTE approved academic institutions and also commended the contributions made by Internshala for creating awareness around internships.
The AICTE chairman, Dr. Anil Sahasrabudhe, welcomed the T&P heads on 1st Internship Day and said, "Through internships, students would get greater exposure to the industry. Fulfilling the dreams of students across India is our responsibility and we have taken multiple steps towards it like updating the curriculum, innovation cells in every college, and teacher training program. Two key initiatives which AICTE has taken up are Smart India Hackathon through which students provided innovative solutions and another was mandating internships for engineering students. AICTE has also formed collaborations with Government bodies and other organisations to connect students with more internship opportunities which have resulted in 2-3 lakh students landing an internship within a span of 1 year."
Dr. Neetu Bhagat, Dy. Director, AICTE, shared the details of AICTE's Internship Policy which brings in more clarity and structure around the internship scenario in India for student and college communities. Dr. M. P. Poonia, Vice Chairman, AICTE and Dr. Neeraj Saxena, Adviser-II (P&AP Bureau) also spoke on the occasion. Megha Goel, Head - HR, Godrej Agrovet, spoke on a need to bridge the industry-academia gap through a direct alignment of curriculum with industry expectations, opting for more internship opportunities and, putting an emphasis on skills.
As a part of Internship Day, Internshala assisted all the colleges in providing their students with internship opportunities. Sarvesh Agrawal, CEO and founder of Internshala expressed heartfelt gratitude toward the teachers for their contributions and said, "Today's event is a tribute and a salute to the teachers, teachers like you who work extremely hard just to see their students succeed and become responsible citizens of the country. T&P in-charges undertake mammoth efforts to ensure every student is able to build her dream career and secure her future."
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