Skill Development News Digest

The first fortnight of October has seen new developments at various fronts of skill development and vocational training in India. As the government plans dedicated skill development service cadre on the lines of Indian Revenue Service, this is a great push to at recognizing the seriousness of this domian. The other major news has been the resignation from the CEO and MD of NSDC and looks like key organization is in for major shake-up.
Registrations for the PMKVY scheme crosses 2 lakh mark. The flagship initiative targets to benefit 24 lakh people with training of 14 lakh fresh entrants and certification of 10 lakh people under Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL).

A NITI Aayog Sub-group on skill development emphasized the strengthening of State Skill Development Missions SSDMs. This is essential to extend the outreach of skill training to women by developing flexible timing in modular training programmes to facilitate women who could not afford longer training particularly in the rural areas. Training programmes in non-conventional trades, such as plumbing, electrician, etc as well as in life skills to be provided to encourage women to enter the labour market.

New initiatives and plans

APSSDC to set up counselling centres to motivate and mobilize people to opt for the training programmes in various skills. These will be set up in 29 villages and later there plans to establish Gram Tarang Employability Training Services will impart training in skills such as sewing, jute bag manufacturing and terracotta jewellery.
TalentSprint launches Cyber Defence Competency Centre to address the skill gap in this area. This will cater to cyber education, skills and analytical needs of the organisations in cyber security arena. The competency center is set up in collaboration with cyber security solution provider Atlantis Analytics and integrated systems solutions firm Sypris Electronics. India will need one million cyber security professionals by 2020.
India to train 4 million people with disabilities for employment in sectors, including beauty and wellness, IT and tourism, in the next seven years.
NIIT Ltd launches NIIT.tv – A disruptive innovation aimed at radically changing the skilling landscape. A disruptive innovation by NIIT for the education space, NIIT.tv will deliver for the very first time, skill-based live courses as well as on-demand courses to the masses, through the digital medium.To register for NIIT.tv log on to www.NIIT.tv.
Skilling India at scale, with MOOCs: In a recent NYT article, Sebastian Thrun, the founder and CEO of Udacity, said they are reinventing their offerings and model by switching to short, focused, industry-driven courses with active instructor guidance and interaction. We can take a page from this to create a workable model in India.
Symbiosis to set up skill development varsity: Programmes related to high growth sectors such as automobile and manufacturing will be targeted and a centre of excellence will be established in collaboration with local industry to provide skill-based training to the youth.
NSS now also giving vocational training to volunteers: The NSS has started courses in computer training, mobile phone repairs, beauticians, mushroom cultivation, bakery training, medical support staff training etc. It is also training volunteers in social responsibilities such as life skill development, disaster management, water shed management and so on.

Training initiatives from the industry

Asian paints launches Colour Academy to provide training to youth in the field of modern-age paint application techniques. The Colour Academy provides training in over eight different vocational courses in different skill sets like basic painter course, interior designer finishes, waterproofing, wood finishes etc.
Pidilite Partners with IPSC to Initiate Skill Development Program for Plumbers: Over 50 plumbers have already been trained and certified under this program. Pidilite aims to train over 1000 plumbers across country in this fiscal year. According to a National Skill Development Council survey, just 0.5 per cent of plumbers in the country are trained. There is a requirement of 12 lakh trained plumbers by 2020, while the current availability is 2.5 lakh, with most of them untrained or self-trained.
JLL India offers certificate program in Facilities Management: Property Consulting firm, JLL India, will offer certificate programs in Facilities Management in collaboration with Manpower Group and EMPI Business School. These co-created training and certification modules will be delivered by combining classroom learnings with live apprenticeships in leading corporates.
Apparel Training & Design Centre (ATDC) conducted a Customized Training Program for 45 days on Knowledge Enhancement in Textiles and Fabrics. The training was conducted for the top and senior managers of M/s ITX Services India, INDITEX (Zara) at their premises.
28.4 million skilled workforce needed in logistics by 2022: India will need around 28.4 million workers in India’s booming transportation, logistics, warehousing and packaging sector. The sector, which currently employs over 16.74 million employees, is slated to employ more than 28.4 million employees by 2022.
Toyota India Organizes 2nd edition of ‘National Sales Skill Contest‘: an initiative dedicated to the company’s sales personnel to showcase their sales skills, identify gaps and improvise. The contest was held at three levels – dealership, regional and national. The participants were judged on several parameters such as knowledge, process demonstration, soft skills, etc

News from different skill sectors

Private guards to be trained as law enforcers : the 50 lakh-strong private security guards will be given basic training of a constable so they can handle small incidents. The private security industry, despite its generally poorly-trained men, is expected to grow into a Rs 40,000 crore sector by next year, according to a FICCI study. Their fitness level is also suspect.
Germany, India to set up centre of excellence for skill development in agriculture: The German Agribusiness Alliance and Agriculture Skill Council of India (ASCI) today signed a MoU to jointly establish ‘Indo-German Centre of Excellence in Agriculture’ aimed at creating a platform for practical skill development in agriculture in India… practical demonstrations of modern technologies and methods (capacity building) to various stakeholders of the agriculture development ecosystem
Construction skills training helps realty sector cut costs: Skills training to workers provided by Pune-based Kushal-Credai has cut down wastage in the construction industry from 8% to 4%. “The skills training also focuses on reducing re-work and substantially cutting down wastage and costs for both contractors, developers, by teaching construction workers about cleaning up after the work,” he added. India will need about a 76.5 million workforce in the building, construction and real estate sector.
Beauty and Wellness is the fastest growing industry, followed by Travel, Tourism and Hospitality and then the retail sector, according to data from Orion Edutech, an NSDC skill training partner.

Grants and funds for skill projects

UK to pump in 50 million pounds for skilling projects in India over 5 years: The skilling initiatives will cover government departments like science and technology, human resource development, the foreign and Commonwealth office and more. In addition, the British Council is aligning itself with Digital India as well as the Skill India Mission.
No funds constraints for skill development in UP: Uttar Pradesh government, which has rolled out public private partnership (PPP) model for employability of 4.5 million youth by 2017, today reiterated funds constrains would not impede skills development mission.
ADB to grant Rs 1,500-cr to MP for skill development.. 906 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) were operational in the state… with the help of NABARD loan, 96 ITIs with an investment of Rs 189.11 crore are to be set up.

Compiled and edited by the Team@NSN