A finishing school (or charm school) is a school for young women that focuses on teaching social skills and cultural norms as a preparation for entry into adult society. The name reflects that it follows on from ordinary school and is intended to complete the educational experience, with classes primarily on etiquette. It may consist of an intensive course, or a one-year programme.

Switzerland was known for its private finishing schools, such as Institut Alpin Videmanette (now closed), Diana, Princess of Wales attended; Mon Fertile, where the Duchess of Cornwall was partly educated; Institut Le Mesnil, Queen Anne-Marie of Greece attended; and Institut Château Beau-Cedre, (closed in 2002). The finishing school that made Switzerland renowned for such institutions was Château Mont-Choisi, founded in 1885, which closed in 1995 or 1996. The only traditional Swiss finishing school that remains open is Institut Villa Pierrefeu, in Glion which was founded in 1954.

Finishing school is a supplementary training school popular in India that attempts to compensate for the deficiencies of low-tier colleges by providing specialized vocational training in technical fields such as computer programming and information technology. These IT finishing schools cover technical skills as well as communication and problem solving skills. Finishing schools can also make up for deficiencies in the Indian secondary education system with regards to math and science education by helping to bring students to a level necessary for gaining admission to University.

In India, finishing school is meant for engineering students. It may be different for different areas such as design, production, production planning, tool design, marketing, sales.

India produces more than 4 lakh engineers every year and big chunk of them are not employable. No doubt there is a gap between what is expected out of Industry and what is available as resources from college. It has been identified that employability skills are diverse in nature but are integrated. The skill sets broadly include- Technical skills and Soft skills. An integrated approach is required to develop these skills to make the graduates employable at OEM and Engineering services companies. It is possible to bridge the gap with good trainings and preparations for desired career. The Engineering finishing school focuses on trainings, mentoring and preparing the young engineers in order to make them more suitable for possible employment.

Unusually, when engineers are colleges, they have been prescribed subjects which are more fundamentals of engineering and it is more of theory. But Finishing school to focus on more of practical which are methods and processes along with behavioral skills such as communication, etiquettes. This will make them industry ready and they are deployable from day one.

Actually, it will benefit industry, Students and Engineering colleges.

1. Students become competent and become employable. As result they jobs quickly after their studies. Also less struggle in Industry during adaptation in Industry environment.

2. On the other hand Industry benefits most: Usually, engineers take 3-6 months time get on to the job and become productive. This time is non-productive and investment from company point of view. Due to prior training, there will be drastic cut down on deployable time. Hence, higher profits for Industry.

3. For engineering colleges also, there value will increase due good placement record of the colleges.

1. HRD ministry, Government of India has planed on pilot basis in 2007 in all NIT. It is being implemented in NIT Finishing School programme for Engineering Graduates by National Institutes of Technology – Calicut, Durgapur, Jaipur, Kurushetra, Surathkal, Tiruchirappalli, Warangal & IIT-Roorkee

2. Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers’ Association: Started finishing school for Production engineering in Bangalore in 2010.

3. JNTU – Hyderbad started Finishing school in 2009 for mechanical, chemical engineering, aeronautical engineering, electonics and communication engineering.

4. GTTC (Government Tool room and Training Centre) in Bangalore lot of Diplomo courses and short term trainings

However, this is not enough for 4 lakh engineers coming every year. Also what about students from semi-urban areas. These students also need to be targeted for training.

There is nothing wrong with students or teachers or colleges. They have only very little exposure to Industry needs. They have not seen real time working methods and processes. Apart from this also should focus on basic communication skills to be successful in their career. In the global scenario an engineering graduate can be successful only if he/she is able to communicate & present their respective technical capabilities as desired in their employment.

Engineering colleges would collaborate with Industry. Start engaging students in special finishing school syllabus two years before they come of the colleges. It is not enough only 2-3 months of training in last year. Soft trainings is must which are communication, presentation, team work, leadership skills etc.

Government is doing lot for skill development in many ways: In 12th five year plan, in 11th Five Year Plan had favored the creation of a comprehensive National Skill Development Mission. As a result, a “Coordinated Action on Skill Development” with three-tier institutional structure consisting of (i) PM’s National Council (ii) National Skill Development Coordination Board (NSDCB), (iii) National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) was created in early 2008. Whereas, Prime Minister’s National Council on Skill Development has spelt out policy advice, and direction in the form of “Core Principles” and has given a Vision to create 500 million skilled people by 2022 through skill systems (which must have high degree of inclusivity), NSDCB has taken upon itself the task of coordinating the skill development efforts of a large number of Central Ministries/Departments and States. The NSDC has geared itself for preparing comprehensive action plans and activities which would promote PPP models of financing skill development.

Developing Efficient and Fair Labor Markets for All Categories of Workers. In 2004-05, the total employment in the country was estimated at 459.1 million out of which 56.8 percent of workforce belonged to self employment, 28.9 percent to casual labor, and 14.3 percent to regular wages. About 8 percent of the total work force in India is employed in the organized sector, while the remaining 92 percent are in the non-formal sector. Employment needs to be generated in all the sectors, namely primary, secondary, and territory.

As I have observed, In Europe, education system is completely different from India. There is lot of interaction with Industry. Participation from Industry is very high. As social responsibility Industry takes students from universities for training ranging from 3-6 months.

Yes, we need for Diploma graduates also for skills such as analytical and behavioral skills.

Yes, we need finishing schools for any industry such as Retails, Telecom, Textile, Banking, Insurance etc

1. Alternate fuels (Electric, Fuel cell and hybrid technologies)

2. Safety

3. Onboard entertainment

1. For any Industry, we need specialized training for engineers, without training you will not succeed.

2. Work towards improving competencies, automatically you will be potential employee of the best companies.