Restart of Industrial Training Institutes (ITI) after lockdown

Industrial Training Institutes (ITI) are re-opening. After being closed for six months, ITIs are resuming their training activities. While going through the reopening process, these institutes have to face many new challenges as well. Now they have to adapt to the new normal while strictly following the guidelines issued by Directorate General of Training (DGT) under the aegis of MSDE.

The ITI related updates such as the guidelines, various collaborations and digital initiatives by the government are the highlights for the past few weeks. Read on to know more about these important updates.

Re-opening guidelines by MSDE

The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) have given some guidelines on how to re-open the ITIs. It is mandatory for all the ITIs across the country to strictly follow the reopening guidelines. Here are some of the important points,

• Sensitize district administration-
• Orientation to all Principals
• Staggered timing for students
• ITI premises used as quarantine centre
• Reporting weekly attendance
• Training for students admitted for session 2020-21/22
• Strict monitoring to Activities

Digital learning initiatives by DGT-MSDE

To cope with the changes and for a continuous skill development, the government has launched various digital initiatives and online portals for both students and trainers. These initiatives help them with the online learning and assessment. 

• Bharat Skills is a unified online learning resource for ITI students and trainers which has futuristic courses in partnership with CISCO in the areas of Networking, Cyber Security etc.
• Live online classes by National Instructional Media Institute (NIMI) have organized live online classes and mock test facilities for students and trainers on NIMI website.
• DGT has launched the SkillsBuild platform in partnership with IBM.

Important skill development updates related to ITIs

The updates related to ITIs are making headlines for the past few weeks. New ITIs are coming up in many states and various collaborations and upgradations are happening. Here are a few of them, 

• The government of Karnataka, in partnership with Tata Technologies Ltd will invest Rs 4,636.50 crore to upgrade 150 ITIs in the state. Rs 30 crore will be invested in each of the 150 ITIs which will be equipped to provide “Industry 4.0” standard training.
• Farm ITIs are going to be established at ITI Khuri Batpora, Kulgam and R S Pura in Jammu. There will be various short term and long term courses related to agriculture which will start in the month of November 2020.
• Honda Road Safety E-Gurukul has trained over 1500 ITI students and has created awareness regarding road safety in the last three months. The awareness has been created in 15 ITIs across 14 cities in Odisha.
• The government of India is going to spend Rs 10 crore on model ITI institutes, focusing on the skill development of youth. Nearly 15,000 Model ITIs are to be developed across the nation under this initiative by the central government.
• The government of Kerala is going to upgrade the ITIs to international standards and five new ITIs are going to be established in the state. Three trades will be started in the newly constructed ITIs and training will be provided to 240 students.
• The ITIs in Himachal Pradesh are going to reopen from 1st October by strictly following the guidelines issued by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE). 

Also read: 10 most valuable resources for vocational teachers and trainers  https://nationalskillsnetwork.in/10-most-valuable-resources-for-vocational-teachers-and-trainers/