Aiming to increase the employability of students from management and engineering institutions, Government will now provide free skill-based training to those facing difficulties in communication and professional approach.

HRD Ministry is set to revamp the scheme of 'Finishing School' under which it will provide financial incentives to about 10,500 engineering and management institutions in the country to provide skill-based training to such students.

"Nearly 2.5 lakh to three lakh students will be benefited by the scheme every year. They will be imparted coaching to improve their communication skills. They will get exposure to current practices in industry," AICTE Vice Chairman S S Mantha told PTI.

Mantha said the revamped scheme is being planned to be implemented from the coming session. He said nearly one million students pursue engineering and management degrees in the 10,500 institutions. Around 2.5 lakh to three lakh students lack different skills like communication abilities.

The revamped scheme is being prepared by a committee comprising experts from AICTE, FICCI, CII and NASSCOM.

The training will be imparted to the students during the last two semester of their courses. Each institute will have to identify the students who are poor in the basic skills. The institutes will organise special classes during summer vacation for these students.

"The institutes will invite experts from industry and other institutions to impart such skills. The students can also get exposure on current industry practices during their internships," Mantha said.

The scheme is being revamped after a study by NASSCOM found that 25 per cent of engineering graduates in the country are employable. The rest of the students lack in several skills and fail to get jobs.

However, most of the 25 per cent students are found lacking in communicative skills. Many of them even are not well conversant with the subject they pursue.

The committee, preparing the revamped scheme, will finalise the modalities of the scheme by July end, Mantha said.