Report: Enhancing Employability Skills Through ICT at ARUL University

This report addresses the issue of enhancing employability skills among students at ARUL University, focusing on the implementation of effective computer and ICT skills within the curriculum. The report evaluates potential solutions, including the introduction of a dedicated ICT skills course, considering factors like funding limitations and the need for practical skills development. The recommended solution involves developing a certificate-based subject that covers key concepts such as hardware and software usage, document management, networking, cloud storage, email communication, and data protection. Justification for this solution emphasizes its ability to meet the university's objectives, improve student skills, and address the evolving needs of the job market. The report concludes by highlighting the importance of ICT skills for career development and the potential benefits of the proposed course in preparing students for future professional success.

Professional
Communications 011

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY.............................................................................................................................3
Possible solution that can be adopted.....................................................................................3
Why not recommending at least two possible solutions?......................................................4
Recommended solution with justification..............................................................................5
CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES...........................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
In today’s advanced career and fast growing technology there is an increase in the
need for the highly effective and skilled personnel who is having knowledge in the field of
technology. This has become an important issue which is required to be addressed by the
education institutions in order to make their students highly skilled in terms of employability.
In this report, the issue that will be addressed is that how the university can opt for
implementing or introducing effective computer and ICT skills in its curriculum which will
help it in providing support to its students in enhancing their employability skills pertaining
to the use of computer and ICT skills. This report provides an insight into the recommended
action that can be undertaken for implementing or adopting the action.
MAIN BODY
Possible solution that can be adopted
The main issue pertaining to the existing computer and ICT skills of the recently
passed out students is that they are not having basic knowledge about the working of the
computer which makes it difficult for the employer to provide job to such people. On the one
hand, the young people for more and more indulged in their smart phones and are appear of
having more knowledge and insight pertaining to the technology in comparison to the older
generation, this results into increase in expectation that the such young people when enter the
workplace will definitely be having a good computer and ICT skills which will add value to
the organization (Infante-Moro, Infante-Moro and Gallardo-Pérez, 2019). But on the flip side,
there is an important thing which cannot be ignored is that there is many complaints being
received from the employer side that the even university graduate people are not having
required skills and is lacking behind and the organization in order to make them productive
required to provide them with the extensive raining before they become productive and
valuable for the organization. This issue emerges the need for implementing an especially
designed course for this skill as everything is now a days based upon the usage of the
computer and therefore, sharpening of this skill is very much important.
There are possibly many solutions to this problem like making student understand
the importance of ICT skills in their education and career through the way of addressing its
benefits. Another way is by providing timely guidance and assistance to the students in terms
of effectively making of computer in carrying out the work. One more solution is that starting
a self paced program through which student having interest in this field can enrol themselves
and can get access to it whenever they want to and can be finished at their own comfort

without disturbing their existing curriculum. The last option is making it a compulsory
subject which all the students are required to pass for completing their graduation and for
which a separate certificate of completion will be provided to the students which will help
them to stand out from other. Thus, these are some of the solutions that can be adopted by the
university in order to mitigate the problem identified.
The most possible solution for this issue is to developing a standard curriculum for
the purpose of developing this skill and connecting other subject to it which will help in
effectively understanding and making use of this skills. This method seems to be the best
which can be used by the university and this should be a certificate-based subject.
Why not recommending at least two possible solutions?
The main reason behind only implementing one possible solution is that the
university is having small amount of funds which can be made use for implementing just one
solution to one of the most important issue. In other terms, the university is having resources
to just cover the expenses of on initiative. There are various other similar courses are being
available but are very expensive which are recognised from the International Computer
Driving License which will help in effectively meeting up with the basic computer skills
requirements of most of the organizations (Sahito and Vaisanen, 2017). But there is weakness
of such courses like such course fails to provide complex training pertaining to the safety and
well-being of the individual along with the important GDPR needs. In order to ensure
everything goes as per the plan, one solution is enough to meet with the requirement and
reducing the chances of any confusion.
Along with there are various other advantages or the benefits that can be gained by
the students on account of the usage of this skill on daily basis. Through this, the student can
learn about how to make use of the ICT in effectively organising their work and make it very
clear and how it can be easily accessed from the system. Through this approach, a new
method of teaching can be introduced which will change the way students can understand and
learn which can be even more interactive and interesting resulting into building interest
among the students (Dubey and Tiwari, 2020). By understanding the basics of the computer,
students can gain an insight int the programming which might develop further resulting into
making it their area of interest or professional career. This initiative will result into opening
of many opportunities for the students which will be beneficial for the students along with eth
employers as they will not be required to provide initial training to the employees in respect
to making use of the computer and the application of other ICT skills in completing the work.

Recommended solution with justification
This solution will help the university in effectively meeting up with its objective of
enhancing the employability skills of its students through the way of implementing the new
subject in the curriculum which will be focused on the covering the major important aspects
pertaining to the computer and ICT skills (van Laar and et.al., 2019). This solution will cover
the following range of activities which are considered to be very important for attaining the
goals. Following are the areas which will be focused upon:
 Gaining understanding of the key concepts, on completing this course, students will
gain knowledge and understanding in relation to the effective use of the hardware and
software. The student will know the usefulness of computer and how attaining this
skill will help in meeting up with the workplace requirement.
 Managing documents, with this course, student will get an insight into how to
management the files and folders of the company in relation to the work which will
help in effectively making use of the computer skills (Eremie and Agi, 2020).
 Understanding the network concept, through this, student will know about eth
important concept pertaining to the networking and how everything is connected on a
single network which will result into making student ready for the changing trend
with respect to the technology and with the needs of the organizations.
 The student will also gain knowledge on how everything is now stored on cloud and
can be accessed from anywhere and shared with others. This will help in carrying out
the research activities on the browsers and to make changes in the setting as per the
requirement.
 This is an effective mode of communication of messages within the workplace which
is very much essential in an organization and should be effectively understood by the
students. This is considered important because through the way of emails important
messages in relation to the work is being communicated to the employees.
 This course will also focus on providing insight on the potential threats that the
system and the information in it is under. Therefore, identifying the ways through
which the computer system and other electronic devices can be protected against the
potential threats and breach of data.
Since this course, is graded, therefore, students will concentrate on its which will help
attaining the objective of making the students highly skilled in this field. Thus, this solution is
highly recommended apart from the other solutions.

CONCLUSION
Based on the above, it can be concluded that the computer and ICT skills are very
much important for the student from the point of view of the career and professional
development. Therefore, it is crucial for the student to gain knowledge and enhance their
skills in the application of the computer system along with the relevant ICT understanding
which is very much crucial for implementing an effective communication system within an
organization. There are various advantages of undertaking such type of course as this will
lead to further development and improvement in oneself and meeting with the workplace
requirements. Only one solution is provided which if implemented successfully then will
assist the university in accomplishing their desired goals and respect to increasing the
employability skills among its students. Thus, through this course, university will be able to
enhance and improve the existing skills of the student along with upbringing the student with
the latest skills which are more in demand in current as well as in the future.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Infante-Moro, A., Infante-Moro, J.C. and Gallardo-Pérez, J., 2019. The Importance of ICTs
for Students as a Competence for their Future Professional Performance: the Case of
the Faculty of Business Studies and Tourism of the University of Huelva. Journal of
New Approaches in Educational Research (NAER Journal). 8(2). pp.201-213.
Sahito, Z. and Vaisanen, P., 2017. Effect of ICT Skills on the Job Satisfaction of Teacher
Educators: Evidence from the Universities of the Sindh Province of
Pakistan. International journal of higher education. 6(4). pp.122-136.
Dubey, R. S. and Tiwari, V., 2020. Operationalisation of soft skill attributes and determining
the existing gap in novice ICT professionals. International Journal of Information
Management. 50. pp.375-386.
van Laar, E. and et.al., 2019. Determinants of 21st-century digital skills: A large-scale survey
among working professionals. Computers in human behavior, 100, pp.93-104.
Eremie, I. and Agi, U. K., 2020. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION
TECHNOLOGY (ICT) SKILLS AND EFFICIENT MANAGEMENT OF
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS. Journal
of the International Society for Teacher Education. 24(1).