New Delhi, Nov 8 (IANS) A major skill gap exists among Indian engineering graduates, making a strong case for the engineering colleges and institutions to focus more on employability and quality, says a survey.

According to the survey, jointly carried out by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the World Bank, 64 percent of surveyed employers are "somewhat", "not very", or "not at all" satisfied with the quality of engineering graduates' skills.

The top three most important general skills identified were integrity, reliability and teamwork, while the top three most important specific skills are entrepreneurship, communication in English and use of modern tools and technologies.

The survey has said that employers are relatively satisfied with the graduates when it comes to communication skills in English, but not with the graduates' reliability.

"If colleges want to improve the employability of their graduates, they have to focus on reducing these important skill gaps through improvements in curriculum and teaching methods." said Hiroshi Saeki, an analyst at the World Bank.

"Most important, graduates have to be able to formulate, analyse, and solve a real life problem using standard engineering techniques," he added.

The survey also said the companies differed in the kind of engineers they would like to hire.

IT companies demand advanced computer skills and communication in English, while infrastructure firms want engineers with strong knowledge of math and abilities to use modern tools and technologies.

Added FICCI secretary general Amit Mitra: "This finding shows that the faculty and deans of each college have to closely interact with employers to design education programmes that respond to the specific skill demands of the employers."

According to Andreas Blom, senior education economist at the World Bank: "The survey highlights the need for colleges to focus on the skills of the graduates. Each college should define the set of skills that a graduate is supposed to have after each semester.

Further, colleges need to change pedagogical style from teacher-centric to student-centric, and include more assignments for students to independently analyse and apply tools on real life problems, he added.

"Only through such changes in the teaching-learning process will the future engineers become more employable."