50 per cent IT engineers lack conceptual knowledge: Report

A pan India study by employability solutions' company Aspiring Minds has revealed that more than 50 per cent IT graduates do not know the basics of programming and around 80 per cent of them are unable to apply them to real world problems.

If a latest report by Aspiring Minds, one of India's leading employability solutions company is to believed, 30 per cent of computer science/IT engineers from India do not know basic theoretical concepts used in computer programming while only less than 15 per cent of them are able to apply their skills on the job.

The 2013 report, titled Computer Programming Learning Levels, Engineering Graduates- Annual Report, 2013 surveyed over 55,000 engineers from more than 250 colleges in the country to test computer programming learning levels in engineering graduates.

For the first time, the survey examines the capability of engineering students in computer programming at the end of their undergraduate education.

Explaining the objective behind the survey, Varun Aggarwal, co-Founder and CTO, Aspiring Minds said: "Computer programming skill is the key foundational skill required by the IT industry and also covered by academic curriculum. Yet, we find only 14.97 per cent of IT specialisation students exhibiting skills to write a simple programme, while 70 per cent of them show theoretical understanding. Clearly, the problem is rote learning. This needs to be fixed without any delay by a fresh impetus by institutions and use of technology-based learning and assessment."

Although algorithm design and computer programming are the two most common skills sought for among IT professionals, the survey has revealed that 50 to 60 per cent of CS/IT engineers do not understand subtleties of programming concepts.

At the same time, over 80 per cent of these graduates are also unable to apply their knowledge to solve real-world situations.

In fact, only 14.97 per cent engineers are able apply programming knowledge and put them to good use.

Please click NEXT to learn more about the key findings of the report...

Please see the graph below to understand how non-CS/IT students fared in various competency areas:

Meanwhile, the graph below will help you understand how CS/IT students fared in various competency areas:

The annual report from Aspiring Minds highlights the following:

• Thirty percent of the CS/IT engineers are ignorant of the basic theoretical knowledge of programming. While around 32 per cent have conceptual knowledge, only 14 per cent have application-based knowledge.
• Around 50 to 60 per cent of CS/ IT engineers do not know the basics of programming and around 80 per cent are unable to apply them to real world problems.
• When it comes to advanced areas of programming like algorithm design such as complexity theory, around 50 per cent CS/IT engineering students do not know even the basic terminologies and definitions.
• In terms of complexity theory, application based knowledge of CS/IT engineering students drops to a dismal 13.05 per cent while conceptual understanding rests in only 24.99 per cent.