3-Aug-2022: Awareness about Skill Development

The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) has undertaken various awareness campaigns, workshops, and digital seminars from time to time at national, regional, state, district, and block levels with the support of more than 25,000 skill centers and institutes for promotion of various skill development initiatives of the Government. Besides, National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), Sector Skill Councils (SSCs), State Governments, State Skill Development Missions (SSDMs) and District Skill Committees also undertake awareness campaigns through Press Information Bureau (PIB), and Print and Electronic media including social media under the aegis of Skill India Mission. All these initiatives aim to make skills aspirational for the youth. These activities are to ensure skilling aspirational and a continuous process of reskilling, upskilling and multiple skilling.

The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 envisages curriculum integration of essential subjects and skills in all schools and higher education institutions in a phased manner to provide necessary vocational skills for a variety of occupations along with awareness about the benefits of vocational education.

The Department of School Education and Literacy (Ministry of Education) is implementing the scheme of vocationalization of school education under the umbrella of “Samagra Shiksha” – an integrated scheme for school education, a Centrally Sponsored Scheme. The scheme aims at integrating vocational education with general academic education in all Secondary/Senior Secondary schools, enhancing Employability and Entrepreneurial abilities of the students, providing exposure to work environment; and generating awareness amongst students about various career options so as to enable them to make choice in accordance with their aptitude, competence and aspirations. The scheme covers Government and Government aided schools. Under the scheme, 14,435 schools have been approved till AY 2021-22 across the country for integrating vocational education with general education from Class 9th to 12th.

MSDE in co-ordination with the Ministry of Education has launched the Skill Hubs Initiative (SHI) as a pilot project on 01.01.2022 under central component of PMKVY 3.0 which focuses on introduction of skill training programme in education ecosystem as envisioned in National Education Policy (NEP), 2020. Skill Hubs are nodal skill centres identified to provide skill development and vocational training opportunities to target population segments of school dropouts and out-of-education candidates aged between 15 to 45 years age. As on 30th June 2022, a total of 2,28,302 candidates have been enrolled so far.

The National Skill Development Corporation under the Ministry has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs) with 8 countries viz; Japan, UAE, Sweden, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Russia, Finland and Morocco for cooperation in the field of vocational education and training. NSDC has partnered with the Finnish National Agency for Education (EDUFI), Finland to promote and facilitate the exchange of knowledge of new innovations and connect the providers within the vocational education and training sector between the two countries.

The Government of India and the Government of Japan have signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) in January, 2021 on a basic framework for partnership for proper operation of the system pertaining to “Specified Skilled Worker”. Under this MoC, skilled Indian workers from fourteen sectors viz; (1) Nursing care (Caregiving), (2) Building cleaning management, (3) Machine parts & tooling industries, (4) Industrial machinery industry, (5) Electric, electronics and information industries, (6) Construction industry, (7) Shipbuilding and ship machinery industry, (8) Automobile repair and maintenance, (9) Aviation industry, (10) Accommodation industry, (11) Agriculture, (12) Fishery & aquaculture, (13) Manufacture of food and beverages, and (14) Foodservice industry have been identified for enhanced job opportunities for skilled Indian workers in Japan.

Further, MSDE and the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan (Government of Japan) have also signed an MoC inviting candidates from India to Japan under the Technical Intern Training Program (TITP). It aims to transform India’s skill ecosystem by sending and accepting technical interns from India to Japan, thereby enabling Indian industries to imbibe the best practices of Japanese industries.

2-Jul-2022: MSDE launches DBT scheme to extend direct monetary support to apprentices

The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) today announced that National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS) will be a part of Direct Beneficiary Transfer (DBT) scheme, providing direct government benefits to all apprentices. Earlier companies used to pay apprentices the entire amount and then seek reimbursement from the government. With the launch of the DBT scheme, the government will directly transfer its contribution to bank accounts of apprentices through National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), 25% of the stipend payable up to Rs. 1500/- per month.

Lauding the initiative, Union Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and Education, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, said that apprenticeship is getting a big boost under Skill India. He said the first set of apprentices have received stipend subsidy in their accounts through DBT under the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme. This is not only a boost to apprenticeship but also takes us closer to realising the potential of Skill India.

To skill, reskill and upskill young India, increase per capita economic production, and support national missions, it is imperative to turn apprenticeship into a participatory movement. It not only exposes candidates to real-time industrial environments but allows them the opportunity to contribute to the economy even during training. It also gives a boost to the Skill India Mission by creating sustainable skill development strategies in association with the government, businesses, and educational systems. MSDE’s objective is to give further boost to youth's employability through such sustainable model of skill development and help realize Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat

National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS) was launched on August 19, 2016, to promote apprenticeship training in the country and to provide financial support to establishments undertaking apprenticeship. The program aims to motivate employers to hire apprentices and aid them in discovering the right job roles while maximising their potential through in-depth skill development. As of today, more than 12 lakh apprentices have been engaged with various industries.

The dream of India becoming the ‘Skill Capital of the World’ seems to be on the path to fruition with the introduction of various apprenticeship reforms aimed at building a skilled manpower. It is envisioned that these schemes will be further scaled up in the coming years and all contracts will be DBT contracts.

1-Jul-2022: IIE, Guwahati signs MoU with IIM, Shillong to boost Entrepreneurship Ecosystem in the North Eastern Region

With an aim to boost the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the North Eastern Region (NER), the Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE), Guwahati, today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Incubation and Enterprise Support Centre of Indian Institute of Management Shillong (IIMS) to boost the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the North Eastern Region (NER).

The objective of this partnership is to encourage entrepreneurship, incubation, and startups in the North Eastern Region. To support professional development in the areas of management, entrepreneurship, and skill development, and to meet the larger demand for capacity building and entrepreneurship promotion in the NER, the institutes will collaborate and exchange information and resources.

Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Shri Rajesh Aggarwal said the Northeast has tremendous potential that is just waiting to be discovered. This partnership will help create an atmosphere where startups and entrepreneurs can flourish in the region by not just supporting and encouraging the locals but also giving them access to formal training, professional mentorship, and the technical know-how needed to run a successful business. He said our aim is to foster an entrepreneurship enabling ecosystem that promotes innovation and growth in the Northeast.

By collaborating on this initiative, both institutes will benefit from each other’s strengths in promoting skill development in the NER and the country at large. The institutes will together conduct certified courses on entrepreneurship development and also train startups and incubates under the Incubation and Enterprise Support Centre, IIM Shillong. They will also promote educational lectures, workshops, exhibitions, and other knowledge dissemination programmes in the region. Both institutes will share infrastructure facilities like laboratories, libraries, incubation centres, etc. with each other for the research work of the incubates and beneficiaries. Faculties from both institutes will be a part of mentoring, training, workshops, and evaluation juries for the incubation centre.

18-Jan-2022: Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship signs an MoU with IGNOU to link vocational education and training with higher education

To further strengthen the vocational and technical training framework, the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Indira Gandhi Open University (IGNOU), today. The partnership aims to link vocational education and training with higher education, making India’s youth employable by creating avenues for them to access better work opportunities. The trainees attached to National Skill Training Institutes (NSTI), Industrial Training Institutes (ITI), Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras (PMKK) and Jan Shikshan Sansthans (JSS) will benefit from the programme, aimed at creating upward mobility of these students to be able to attain higher education for better livelihood opportunities.

Under the partnership, 32 NSTIs, more than 3,000 Government ITIs, 500 PMKKs and nearly 300 JSS will be associated with IGNOU as Registration Centres, Examination Centres and Work Centres for hands on training. Through the collaboration, students will now get an opportunity to join the three-year degree programme of IGNOU. There shall be a Project Steering Committee with representatives from both MSDE and IGNOU to monitor and review the progress of the programme. The MoU is initially for a period of 10 years subject to renewal on mutual agreement. This MoU is in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goal 4.4 and the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 for increasing Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education including vocational education to 50 % by 2035.

Shri Rajesh Aggarwal, Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship lauded the initiative and expressed that India’s young demographic dividend is the engine of its economic progress and needs access to meaningful pathways to receive quality education as well as skill, and vocational training. The initiative is aimed in this direction as it provides higher social and economic mobility to our youth, with requisite qualifications, he added. He further said that our Prime Minister’s vision is to fulfill the aspirations of India’s youth and prepare them for the future world of work and this initiative is aligned with it.

Shri Aggarwal stressed that IGNOU as an establishment has continuously striven to build an inclusive knowledge environment and he hoped that this collaboration will provide an opportunity to India’s youth population to build their capacities and shape their future. In its initial stage, the joint initiative shall be implemented at the earliest with 32 NSTIs declared as IGNOU centres including courses on foreign language training, skill-based healthcare education, fashion designing and more, he added.

The MoU was signed by Dr. B.K. Ray, Director (CBC), MSDE and Dr. V.B. Negi, Registrar, IGNOU. Prof. Nageshwar Rao, Vice Chancellor, IGNOU stated that IGNOU shall provide all necessary support through its 21 Schools of Studies and 56 Regional Centres for successful implementation of this scheme. IGNOU will develop standards for quality assurance, develop counselling and trainer training programmes to facilitate students’ enrolments, train the staff of the identified centres to handle the enrolments and counselling, and mentor the management of NSTIs, ITIs, PMKKs and JSSs. It will also provide self-learning material (SLM) in digital form, undertake the comprehensive evaluation and conduct term end examinations for its own components, and issue certificates to successful learners.

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