How R. D. Tata NTTF Technical Education Centre (RNTC) is making students future-ready

Nettur Technical Training Foundation (NTTF) has been at the forefront of technical training and Skill development for more than six decades. It is on a journey to provide skilled and industry-ready manpower by bridging the industry-academia gap.

To know more about the initiatives that are taken and the strategies that are being followed by this premier institution, Team NSN connected with Mr. Satish Joshi, Principal, R D Tata NTTF Technical Education Centre (RNTC) Jamshedpur.

In this Skill Talk, Mr. Satish Joshi shares the initiatives by his centre to make the students industry-ready and tells us about his journey as well as vision for NTTF. Read on to know more.

Q. Please tell us about your centre and the key programs that are offered at your centre?

A: R D Tata NTTF Technical Education Centre (RNTC) was established in 2003 in partnership with Tata Steel Ltd, Jamshedpur. We offer four courses at our centre:

• Diploma in Tool Engineering and Digital Manufacturing
• Diploma in Electronics and Embedded System
• Diploma in Computer Engineering and IT infrastructure
• Diploma in Mechatronics Engineering and Smart Factory

Within a span of 15 years, the training centre has grown in stature and built a name for itself as one of the most sought-after technical training centres in the Jharkhand state. The centre boasts of well-equipped laboratories, workshops and classrooms, and professionally qualified instructors. Students from neighbouring states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Odisha come to our centre to study. Currently 630 students are pursuing various courses in our centre.

At present due to the covid-19 restrictions, our regular classes are also going online and we are planning to re-open as soon as the guidelines are issued. 

We encourage our students to participate in different national and international level competitions like ICQC, WorldSkills among others. For a recently held CII -Industry 4.0 competition, our students had developed a low-cost 3D printing machine for which they won a gold medal. 

We participate in skill competitions at various levels; two years ago, one of our trainees had won gold award in the skill competition at national level. Last year, our trainee from Vellore centre in Tamil Nadu won a silver medal in WorldSkills Russia. 

Q. What about placements? How do you manage industry-connect for suitable placements?

A: Our centre is well known for a good placement record. All the reputed industries from across Jamshedpur region like Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Hitachi recruit from our college. Industries from other regions such as Gurgaon, Kanpur, Faridabad, Hyderabad, Chennai and Pune also recruit students from our centre. 

Our courses are industry aligned and highly job-oriented. We give importance to hands-on training and 65% of our course is practical, based on industry requirements. We have a strong academic council that regularly tracks the developments in the industries to keep our syllabus updated. We regularly take feedback from industries. 

Despite the challenges of COVID situation, 85% of our students are already placed. 60-70% have already joined the industry. 

Q. How do you stay relevant with the industry? How do you encourage entrepreneurship among students?

A: We always try to stay relevant to the industry needs. Also, we are shifting from teacher-centred to student-centric outcome based learning. We provide students with many platforms to explore their ideas, bring out creative ideas, and make them use those basic skills to design certain projects which are actually implemented in industries. 

Apart from imparting industry-ready skills, we promote entrepreneurship as well. Many of our alumni are successful entrepreneurs. We develop our students’ skills as entrepreneurs through our training. We provide basic training on how to develop a product, how to launch a product, how to market a product, how to present a product, how to capture the requirements of the customers. The training ensures that when they go outside and start exploring these opportunities, they find themselves comfortable.

Also read: This joint venture between industry and academia has transformed technical training in the eastern states https://nationalskillsnetwork.in/this-industry-academia-joint-venture-has-transformed-technical-training/

Q. How do you ensure that the faculty is upskilled and continuously trained to meet the dynamic nature of industry-integrated curriculum?

A: Faculty development is one of the key focus areas of NTTF. Our trainers are constantly upgrading their skills through different training and skill development programs. We have a strong faculty development structure at our corporate office where we monitor the competency skill matrix of all of faculties very meticulously in line with the latest technology developments. There is proper planning and training for all our staff. We train our faculties through online sessions and workshops. 

Q. For how long have you been associated with NTTF, please share important milestones in your journey?

A: I am an NTTF alumni, I studied in NTTF Dharwad from 1996 to 1999. I was working in Pune for a few years before joining NTTF Jamshedpur in 2003 as a staff. I have been with NTTF since 2003 till date and was associated with various centres. I was the project in-charge of the first program of “Learn and Earn” with Ashok Leyland, Pantnagar. We had a tie up with Maruti Suzuki India Limited, to upgrade some of the ITIs in Uttar Pradesh, Varanasi. I was the project in-charge for one year where we upgraded the ITIs as per the current industry requirements. My association with NTTF is a very proud association where I leveraged all the opportunities to train people in the right way. I have been serving as principal of NTTF-RNTC from Nov-2017. 

Q. Any suggestions you wish to give to the students?

A: There is no shortage of jobs in the market. However, there is a shortage of the right candidate with the right skills. Industries are looking for candidates who are already equipped with the necessary skill set. So, students should be more focused on acquiring the required skill set rather than focusing on certification. If they have the right skills, industries will prefer them over anyone else. Knowledge is just a click away for today’s generation, they should just have the learning mindset and pick up the right things to build their skillset. The industry-specific skills must be acquired by the youth through their journey in a competent training institution like our NTTF.