Skill Development News Digest – 150316

The major highlight in the first fortnight was renewed focus on skilling women on the occasion of International Women’s day. Corporates like Cairn India’s women empowerment initiative in Barmer, Rajasthan was appreciated. Honda’s ‘Dream Riders’ has trained around 15000 women riders under their exclusive women empowerment initiative. Women’s participation in labour force needs a stronger impetus to strike a balance as “nearly 73% of women are not in the labour force, while 44% are not willing to work,” Rohini Pande, economist at Harvard University. At another event, Agriculture Sector Skill Council (ASCI) was awarded the best sector skill at Assocham Skills Summit 2016 for their support for standards and facilitating innovative vocational courses. Read on from the skill development news digest 150316.

News from the states

• Arunachal Pradesh: 77 candidates from various districts to undergo training in Arc and Gas welding, BPO and Injection Moulding Machine Operations
• Delhi: MSDE partners with FSSAI to train round 20000 roadside food vendors in health and hygiene in Delhi under PMKVY. The training will be on the basis on Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) in more than 40 centers.
• Gujarat: Navrachana University in Vadodara signed an MoU with the IT-ITes Sector Skills Council (SSC) of NASSCOM for conducting global business foundation skills (GBFS) and foundation skills in IT (FSIT) programs for students.
• Jammu and Kashmir: Handicrafts Department promotes skill development in Rajouri to create livelihood for women through stitching and embroidery. Indian Army imparts vocational training to women in Srinagar for employment in various industry and options for self-employment
• Karnataka: CFTRI signs an MoU with JSS College to offer B.Voc and M.Voc courses in food processing and research
• Kerala: Government to set up skill development institute in Ettumanoor, Kottayam in partnership with BPCL to focus on hydrocarbon sector and overseas placement
• Madhya Pradesh: The Skill Development Mission conducted a seminar in Bhopal to convey the importance of skill development and to plan a structured framework to increase employment.
• Maharashtra: The government will provide training in fields of driving, retail and IT to thousands of girls in separate partnerships with 21 corporates and with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) will train 7000 PMC employees in 2016-17 to develop their skills and the civic administration functions TISS ties up with corporates to launch School of Vocational Education (TISS-SVE) enhance skill development through Work Integrated Training.
• Nagaland: Suryamitra skill development program to train youth in new and renewable energy with the help of National Institute of Solar Energy, 2E Knowledge Ventures and YouthNet. Skill development and entrepreneurship program held at Kiphire under the RKVY scheme.
• Odisha: Government sets up six new skill development centers jointly funded by Asian Development Bank (ADB).
• Punjab: CII holds work skills contest in Ludhiana. Punjab government will train jail inmates in technical skills by with the help of Punjab State Board of Technical Education (PSBTE).The government signed an MOU with Honda Company about their Dream Riding campaign. Punjab University to set up an India-UK Advanced Training School (IUATS) under the Newton-Bhabha Fund programme.
• Tamil Nadu: Bharat University partners with Bosch to launch training center in the areas of diesel systems, gasoline systems, diagnostics and auto electricals
• Telangana: According to a news report, ITIs in the state need immediate attention from the government and the private sector to increase their funds and fill vacancies

The industry sectors

• Tata Power’s third TPDSI – Center of Excellence inaugurated in Maithon, Jharkhand to impart training in power sector skills.
• NHAI partners with ISB for skills and competency development in infrastructure management
• Finolex to train 500 plumbers under the KUSHAL scheme in partnership with CREDAI and NSDC

The central government

• Centre is planning a National Board for Skill Development Certification on the lines of the board for education to set standards and certify skill development courses
• Government to upgrade 400 ITIs in collaboration with the World Bank under the Vocational Training Improvement Project (VTIP) in all states and union territories.
• Government plans to make two-year ITI to be equivalent to Class 12. This would mean after completion of ITI course, the students will be eligible for graduation programs, by completing a bridge course.
• MSDE to come up with Sector Mentor Committees (SMCs) to guide and share their expertise in course content and designing new courses.
• Skill development to be backed by a legislation to bring consistency in measurement of outcomes; so far, over 1,461 qualifications from NSDC and ITIs have been aligned to NSQF.
• According to a report, PMKVY enrolments have touched 18 lakhs in 8 months and 410 Kaushal melas were conducted across 29 states under the scheme
• MHRD launches Skills Assessment Matrix for Vocational Advancement of Youth (SAMVAY) , in collaboration with the MSDE to help student move from formal education to skill development courses.

The news is compiled from different sources by Team-NSN.

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