German development agency GIZ recently visited an Industrial Training Institute (ITI) in Aurangabad to explore possible avenues of cooperation around lending its expertise in skill development. GIZ has been asked to support skills training in industrial technologies like CNC/VMC operation, robotics and automation techniques.
The ITI’s authorities also sought cooperation to establish a centre for in-company trainers to train teachers in curricula development on the lines of Germany’s dual-training approach. Pilot apprenticeship training in Germany for staff and students was another angle discussed. Germany is a world leader in apprenticeship training which has been widely touted as the key contributor to the country’s low youth unemployment rates.
NSDC Becomes UNEVOC Centre
The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) became a member of the UNEVOC Network in mid-2018. Earlier this year the NSDC-UNEVOC Centre was officially launched in New Delhi. The UNEVOC Network is UNESCO’s global network for institutions focused on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) for skills-based workforce development. Members of the UNEVOC Network are called UNEVOC Centres and they benefit from access to national and international exposure to TVET activities such as fostering international collaboration in TVET and sharing of best practice. The NSDC’s seat as a UNEVOC Centre marks its importance in the country’s skilling ecosystem and will allow it to strengthen its skilling initiatives through a data-driven approach to planning. To kick off the NSDC’s membership a five-day international workshop with participation from 15 countries was organised on ‘Greening of Job Roles and Curricula’ with an aim to include sustainability and green concepts into occupational standards.
SKF India Training Centres Accredited by ASDC
SKF India inked a Memorandum of Understanding with the Automotive Skill Development Council (ASDC) for the accreditation of its YES (Youth Empowerment at SKF) centres. With an investment of Rs.12 crores per YES centre, SKF India is keen to ride the growth in India’s automotive industry by adding skilled personnel to its workforce. So far, 1,830 candidates have benefited from the YES program.
YES skills underprivileged youth and places them at various automotive OEMs, workshops, dealer service networks alongside imparting entrepreneurial skills to enable them to have their own vehicle service stations if they so desired. Candidates are taken through six months of rigorous vocational training in automotive two-wheeler and four-wheeler repair as per the Modular Employability Skills course of the Ministry of Employment and Training. The program also imparts soft skills training such as communication skills, financial and business management skills.
Sona Yukti Receives Skill Award
Bangalore-based skill development and training institute Sona Yukti, the only Indian entity in the list of the 2018 Social Enterprise Network (SEN) awards, won the sustainability prize for education. Sona Yukti along with the National Skills Development Corporation has imparted high skills training in sectors such as retail and hospitality, to more than 55,000 economically disadvantaged individuals, mainly women, through a network of 50 vocational schools across rural India.
Skill India Mission Targets Women
The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) under the Skill India Mission is committed to women empowerment. ITIs across the country saw a 97% jump in admissions between 2014-2018 of which 173,105 were women trainees up from 87,799 in 2014. Additionally, 18 National Skill Training Institutes have been established exclusively to impart skills training to women. The National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme is also showing commitment to skilling women with exclusive women batches for the basic element of apprenticeship training in all centrally funded institutes. Furthermore, the Directorate General of Training, under the MSDE, is conducting a study to understand barriers faced by women in enrolling in ITIs and apprenticeship programmes. In other major skilling schemes, nearly 50% of candidates enrolled in the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana are women.
Women Empowerment in Plumbing
Breaking gender stereotypes, the CSR wing of Roca- ‘We are Water Foundation’, has joined forces with the Indian Plumbing Skills Council (IPSC) under the National Skills Development Corporation to train 700 women from a total of 1600 candidates across India in plumbing skills. Women will also be given special focus under the Recognition of Prior Learning route. Candidates will receive free training in specific plumbing job roles designated by the National Skills Qualification Framework.
North East Skill Centre Partners with ITEES
Four hundred seats are in offer at a first-of-its-kind North East Skill Centre (NESC) recently inaugurated in Garchuk, Assam. Based on sectoral demand in the country, skills training will be provided in retail, beauty and wellness, and hospitality. The NE region has been a shining example of professional manpower in these sectors in recent years. NESC has partnered with more than 20 national and international brands for work placement of its candidates.
The NESC will run in partnership with the Institute of Technical Educational Services (ITEES), Singapore, which has supported the design of curricula in accordance with international standards for skill development, and aligned with the National Skill Qualification Framework at the same time. Moreover, ITEES has delivered a specialised “Train the Trainer Programme” for staff at the NESC. ITEES will also provide technical assistance on campus design and on-site facilities, in the procurement of training equipment and in the running of workshops.
