How can I practise software engineering outside the MCA syllabus?

Software engineering applies structured methods to designing, building, testing and maintaining software. An MCA student should understand requirements, architecture, version control, testing and maintenance. For an MCA learner, the best way to understand software engineering is to connect the theory with a small working example. This point is specifically relevant to the software engineering aspect of MCA study. For this specific question about software engineering, the practical takeaway is to relate the concept to your own MCA learning goal. In other words, this guidance addresses: How can I practise software engineering outside the MCA syllabus?