Here’s our News Digest covering various happenings and updates in the ITIs, the industry, government and other stakeholders in the skilling and VET space. The News Bytes curated and adapted from various sources* with the sole objective of keeping our readers informed about the evolving skills industry in India and how they can be a part of it.
ITIs and Apprenticeships
ITIs will be on par with others with a board of their own
A separate Board for ITIs will be set up along the lines of the ICSE and CBSE to assess and certify about 23 lakh students graduating from industrial training institutes across the country. This move will enable the ITI graduates to pursue regular courses in other schools and colleges, as the certificates awarded to them will be equivalent to the ones given to students graduating from ICSE and CBSE-affiliated schools.
The Ministry of Human Resource Development has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship to establish the board.
The board will also subsume Sector Skill Councils, industry bodies led by the National Skill Development Corporation, which help in creating occupational standards and qualification bodies, developing competency framework, conducting training programmes and skill gap studies. They also assess and certify trainees on the curriculum aligned to national occupational standards developed by them.
Government mandates industries to follow Apprentices Act
The Odisha government has made it mandatory for industrial houses to offer students training for jobs at their establishments. This is because reports have shown that most of the industrial houses are not accepting students as apprentices.
The Secretary of the skill development and technical education department stated that “according to the Apprentices Act, 1961, industries with a minimum of six employees are liable to engage apprentices from industrial training institutes (ITIs)/polytechnics.” whereas this has not been followed.
It was also noted that even the engineering schools and colleges in the state were not offering such facilities to the students despite the fact that they get government concessions.
The directorate of technical education and training had issued 144 show-causes notices to the non-compliant industries last year for violating the act’s provisions. In response, only 30 industries have complied with the provisions, and a majority of them are still ignoring the instructions from the government.
More news from the ITI world
Students passing out of Industrial Training Institutes in Bihar will henceforth be treated at par with those having cleared their plus two exams.
“Those who get enrolled at ITIs, often are unable to pursue further education. The state government would, therefore, treat certificates issued to them as being at par with 10 plus two”, said Sushil Kumar in a release. He said many ITI students were being provided training through computers and webcasting. He also mentioned that a number of the ITI students were being trained by reputed companies as part of agreements with private companies. He gave examples of training being imparted to more than 300 students at a Yamaha Motors factory in Faridabad and Samsung India having set up a training centre at women’s ITI in Patna, while workshops also being conducted by Maruti Suzuki at Muzaffarpur, Patna and Bhagalpur.
In a similar move The Pune Cantonment Board has decided to extend a two per cent quota to students residing in the Pune cantonment areas for admissions to the five new vocational courses being introduced from 2018-19 at its Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar memorial technical school. A total of 200 seats will be available for admission to five courses namely motor vehicle mechanic, civil draftsman, mechanical draftsman, plumber and computer hardware. Each course will take 40 students.
Government initiatives and updates
International recognition for NSDC
National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) that has been training youngsters in almost all districts of India to make them employable, has been endorsed by the Indian National Commission for Cooperation with UNESCO as a member of the UNEVOC network. This endorsement, will increase the engagement between Indian authorities and international experts to bring the best of ideas and technology related to skilling into India.
Skilled workforce to get MUDRA loan benefit
Due to the slow growth of jobs and poor employment generation, the government has planned to provide the MUDRA loan benefit for the people getting trained under the Skill Development Scheme. Those who have the skill training certificate will be eligible for loans under the MUDRA scheme to start business.
According to the union minister a framework has been established to synergise the MUDRA Yojana with the skilling ecosystem under which 1 lakh youth will obtain self- employment.
News from the states
Telangana :Â Power Grid Corporation of India Limited, signed a MoU with National Academy of Construction (NAC), Hyderabad, for placement linked skill development training programmes for 390 underprivileged and unemployed youth in the State.
As part of this MoU, NAC will offer several skill development programmes like masonry, plumbing, bar bending, painting and decoration, electrical house wiring, welding, general works supervisor, land surveyor, curtain and garment stitching at NACs 31 centres across the State.
Arunachal Pradesh:Â To provide skill-based training to the youth and make them employable, a Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) training centre was inaugurated by Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister in Itanagar He also flagged off another skill-based training programme for the youths to be conducted at Kolkata. About 240 students are taking the tourism and hospitality course conducted by Orion Edutech at Itanagar and another 60 at Kolkata centre. The Government is sponsoring the training programme to help provide employability to those who are not academically qualified.
Karnataka:Â In Mysuru, The District Industries Centre (DIC) has set a target to provide comprehensive training in entrepreneurial skill development for over 4,000 youth this year, to enable them to become self-employed. This will help the trained students become entrepreneurs.
Jammu & Kashmir:Â A workshop on Student innovation & Start-up Movement for Academic leaders was conducted. The Chancellor of Universities of J&K attended this important academic event. He emphasized the need to explore the entrepreneurial potential of the Universities in J&K for enhancing employability of their Students through Skill training. He said there are ample opportunities for the Universities to utilize the various Schemes available at the State & National levels, which if taken positively and seriously can bring in a new era of progress & prosperity, Several Vice-Chancellors of State and Central Universities were invited to participate & share their experiences on the theme of Consultative Workshop.
Industry at a glance
According to a Report by Teamlease, the logistics sector is likely to create 2.90 lakh new jobs in Ahmedabad over the next four years as the industry is expected to grow at a rate of 10.5%. The road freight segment of the logistics industry will create 2.29 lakh incremental jobs in Ahmedabad region, while waterways segment is expected to generate 28,000 jobs in the next four years. Other segments of the industry such as air and rail transport, warehousing, packaging and courier services are likely to bring up more employment opportunities.
Tech Mahindra Foundation, launched a six-month Certificate course in Logistics and Supply Chain Management in association with CII Institute of Logistics in Vishakhapatnam. This is a full-time training programme and students would be offered internship opportunities in various organisations. Placement assistance would be given to all those students who complete their training and internship. Â Any graduate interested in building a career in Logistics and Supply Chain sector can apply for this course.
The Shipping ministry under the Sagarmala programme will impart skill development training to 1500 people in every coastal area for the next 3 years under the DDU-GKY. This is to address the skill gap in the ports and maritime sector.
Leading IT companies investing in students
Several leading IT companies are engaging proactively with students at school and college levels. Philips, IBM, Wipro, EXL Service, SAP Labs and Infosys are some of those driving these initiatives, for reasons like promoting interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), creating awareness about new technologies including artificial intelligence and to prepare youth for the skills in demand today.
Concluding ceremony of Salon Management Congress 2018
The Salon Management Congress came to a grand conclusion with hair maestro Jawed Habib speaking about the big challenges faced in the business.The event was attended by leading companies from across the country and some top international ones as well. India’s fastest growing salon chain forum also was represented and the topics covered ranged from skills, to building million dollar salon businesses to other relevant subjects. It included hygiene and its direct link to impacting the bottom line, how to create the perfect line for investors and the minor details of salon design, eco-friendly salons and hygiene and health.
MoUs – Collaborations – Partnerships
NSDC signed a MoU with TCS to enhance its skill development and capacity building initiatives such as National Occupation Standards (NOS), Qualification Packs and Curriculum.
With an objective to strengthen skilling outcomes through digital technology, TCS will help in developing a framework and integrating these resources, through its Learning and Assessment platform, iON. TCS will bring iON platform — the ‘Phygital’ (Physical Assets integrated with Digital platforms) delivery model and its large partner ecosystem to the engagement.
Another important MoU in the education and training field was between the Maharashtra State-run Shivaji University and S P Jain Institute of Management and Research (SPJIMR), Mumbai to strengthen its faculty development programme. Besides the faculty development, the Mumbai-based institute will work with the university to streamline case studies, research & development and curriculum development areas. It will benefit the students in the districts of Satara, Sangali, Kolhapur, Ratnagiri and Pune.
MoU signed between CSIR-CMERI and ESSCI
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between CSIR- CMERI and New Delhi-based Electronic Sector Skill Council of India (ESSCI) for setting up a ‘Centre of Excellence in Mechatronics’ at CSIR-CMERI, Durgapur Kolkata. This MoU will meet the requirement in regard to the initiation of this ‘Centre of Excellence in Mechatronics’ and will support the skill development activities of CSIR-CMERI under CSIR Integrated Skill Development Program. It will also foster skill developments activities in the electronic sector and help in creating job opportunities for the unemployed youth in the country
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