Significant percentage of higher education institutions not industry-ready: Report

Mumbai, Jan 15 (PTI) Notwithstanding the growing emphasis on employability, a significant percentage of higher education institutions are still not industry-ready and yet to fully align their curricula with industry needs, a report said on Thursday.

According to a TeamLease Edtech report, 'From Degree Factories to Employability Hubs', despite a growing emphasis on employability, 75 per cent of higher education institutions are still not industry-ready, with only 16.67 per cent achieving placement rates of 76-100 per cent within six months of graduation.

The report revealed that curriculum relevance is the biggest structural constraint, as only 8.6 per cent of institutions reported full industry alignment across programs, while 16.9 per cent reported partial alignment in select courses.

"What stands out in this report is the clear gap between aspiration and execution. While employability remains a central objective, a significant number of institutions are yet to fully align their curricula with industry needs, build strong employer partnerships, or integrate recognised industry certifications into their programmes," TeamLease Edtech founder and CEO Shantanu Rooj said.

This indicates that a large share of students continue to graduate with limited exposure to real-world work environments, reducing opportunities to build practical, job-relevant skills before entering the employment market.

The TeamLease Edtech report was based on inputs from 1,071 institutes across public, private, and deemed universities, as well as autonomous and affiliated colleges in India.

The report further revealed that experiential learning, which is widely seen as critical to job readiness, still lacks structure and standardisation.

Besides, only 9.68 per cent of institutions use live industry projects, while 37.8 per cent lack internship integration.

Meanwhile, the report said that while alumni networks are often cited as a powerful bridge to industry, only 5.44 per cent of institutions report highly engaged alumni communities. This weakens access to informal hiring channels, mentorship, and industry referrals that typically play a significant role in early-career job placement and career navigation for graduates, the report said.

"At its core, this is a system design challenge. If employability is truly the goal, curriculum co-creation with industry, mandatory internships, applied learning through live projects, and formal employer partnerships must become fundamental to how institutions function and are evaluated, not optional add-ons," Rooj added.

The report also found limited industry participation in classroom teaching, with only 7.56 per cent of institutions integrating Professors of Practice across multiple programs, while another 15.46 per cent restrict such engagement to a few departments. PTI SM DRR