Chennai : The curriculum of pharmacy education in India should have subjects like industry based practical skills so as to enable students to look for gainful employment opportunities, said Ranjit Madan, chief executive officer of Life Sciences Sector Skill Development Council (LSSSDC), New Delhi.
Compared to many countries, a wide gap is seen in industry-based skills among the under-graduate and post graduate pharmacy students in India. The only solution to this burning issue is to increase industry-academia relation, he maintained.
While inaugurating a seminar on ‘Skill Development Program for Quality Assurance Chemists’ at Sri Ramachandra University here, he said countries like Germany and Switzerland have highly skilled man power in their pharmaceutical companies which are exporting drugs to other countries. Though India exports medicines to many countries, especially low value generic products, the pharma industry here lacks skilled workforce. He said Germany and Switzerland are leaders in generic exports. Their highly skilled manpower is contributing for their success in business.
“In South Korea 97 per cent of the workforce is skilled, and in China and Western Europe, it is between 50 and 97 per cent. Whereas in India it is less than five percent. In those countries people in the industry teach half the time and teachers work in the relevant industry half the time. While we are good in academics, the students lack industry based shop-floor practical training under a mentor to become skilled workforce,” he said.
Sri Ramachandra University, Chennai has been selected as a nodal centre in Tamil Nadu for skill development program for quality assurance chemists, Renjith Madan informed.
Commenting on the issue of skilled man power, J Jayaseelan, Chairman, Indian Drug Manufacturers Association, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kerala states board, said government of India has now made it mandatory for all key people in the drug industry to have their skills assessed and certified by LSSSDC. Therefore pharmacy students should foster these skills and be ready for it.
Vice Chancellor of the university, Dr P V Vijayaraghavan, Dean, Research, Dr S P Thyagarajan, and Principal of Faculty of Pharmacy, Dr D Chamundeswari were among those who participated in the programme.
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