Skills Innovation Initiative Committee receives 129 innovative proposals, TOP 5 RECOMMENDED FOR FUNDING
To encourage innovation in the field of skill development and entrepreneurship, the National Skill Development Agency, an autonomous body under the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship has initiated a process for inviting ideas, evaluating them, and providing an opportunity for selected innovations to be applied across a wider canvas. To implement this, a Committee on Skills Innovation Initiative was set up on 7th November 2014 under the Chairmanship of S. Ramadorai (Chairman, National Skill Development Agency and National Skill Development Corporation), and with the Secretary and Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, the Director General NSDA and the MD & CEO of the National Skill Development Corporation as members. NSDA has invited innovative proposals through wide publicity, and proposals received will be vetted, with shortlisted proposal being placed before the Committee at its monthly meetings, which will be held on the third Wednesday of every month.
The first meeting of the Committee was held on 17th December 2014, with Ramadorai in the Chair, and Sunil Arora, Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship; JP Rai, DG, NSDA; Dilip Chenoy, MD & CEO, NSDC and Jyotsna Sitling, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship as members. A total of 129 proposals across various sectors that had been received till 9th December, 2014 and evaluated by the internal screening committee of NSDA, resulted in five shortlisted proposals being invited for presentation before the Committee Members.
The Committee advised the proposal owners I-Saksham, Urban Micro Business Centre (Centurion University), Learning Kit (Labournet) and Welding Simulator (Skillver) to approach the National Skill Development Corporation to avail funding support. The Committee decided that the self-financing model of the Yashaswi Institute of Technology needs to be popularized, and agreed to facilitate the collaboration of YIT with various State Governments.
ITDC collaborates with university in Assam for bachelor’s program
India Tourism Development Corporation Ltd. (ITDC) on December 15 signed an MoU with Assam Downtown University, Guwahati, which will enable the two to conduct a three year Bachelors course in Hotel Management at the Assam down town University, Guwahati, with Industrial Training at ITDC Hotels. ITDC will provide its expertise in developing the curriculum for the three Bachelors course in Hotel Management enabling students to cope up with the new trends emerging in the hospitality sector.
The 3-year programme will be conducted at the Assam Downtown University Campus in Guwahati offering a joint certification (ADTU and ITDC) to the successful students. The course will provide substantial practical skills that are related to different functions in a hotel and therefore has a large amount of time dedicated to practical training with ITDC. This program will commence from April, 2015-2016.
Seven-week gemmology education programme for industry professionals in Mumbai
GIA (Gemological Institute of America) will offer its internationally recognised Graduate Diamonds (GD) Diploma programme in Mumbai, a major consumer market for gems and jewellery and home to many well-known jewellery brands. The seven week programme commences on Jan. 29 and will be taught by experienced instructors at the Institute’s Mumbai campus. The course allows professionals and aspiring professionals from in and around Mumbai easy access to world-class gemmology education.
The GD programme combines theory and hands-on practical learning to teach students the GIA-created 4Cs (Colour, Cut, Clarity and Carat weight) of diamond quality and how to grade diamonds in the D-Z colour range. Students will learn how to use gemmological instruments to grade and identify diamonds; how to detect synthetics, treatments, simulants and fracture-filled diamonds; and how to confidently speak the language of diamonds to suppliers, vendors and customers.
In addition to classroom lessons, GIA facilitates hands-on learning through regular market visits such as manufacturing facilities and retail houses to gain an understanding of day-to-day business. The GD Diploma programme will be held at GIA’s classroom at the Mumbai Campus, Floor 10, Trade Centre, Bandra Kurla Complex, Bandra (East), Mumbai. For more details about GIA in India, visit www.giaindia.in
Safexpress to train 1500 people under Project Udaan
In a major move to further push for employment opportunities for the youth of Jammu and Kashmir, National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Safexpress under ‘Project Udaan’. This partnership is bound to create job opportunities for candidates who are interested in jobs opportunities in logistics and supply chain management. Safeducate Learning – the training arm of Safexpress, has specific courses designed for graduates, which will support skills training in defined categories and empower them to be placed across value added service sectors like warehousing, transportation, 3PL, transshipment, packaging and others. The consortium is rolling out training and skilling plans through its strategic presence and extensive network.
This initiative is expected to get operational from mid-January 2015 and will be implemented over a period of 4 years, skilling over 1500 people from the state of J&K. Safexpress will handhold J&K youth through this transition, right from educating them about the prospective careers, skilling them in the chosen courses, to finally settling them into their new roles and work environments. The agreement was signed by Dilip Chenoy, MD & CEO, NSDC and Safexpress Pvt. Ltd. was represented by Divya Jain, Founder and CEO, Safeducate, its training arm.
Safeducate has its strategic presence pan India through its location at Safexpress logistics hub and parks. This amplifies the program value and gives a holistic approach to practical orientations. Commenting on the partnership, Divya Jain, Founder and CEO – Safeducate said “It will indeed be challenging to skill and train people from a state which unfortunately isn’t much exposed to any other industry apart from ‘Tourism’. We are excited to extend the corporate interface where and when it is most required and live up to the cause of Project Udaan.”
Dassault Systemes Welcomes CADD Centre as its Largest Education Partner in India
Dassault Systèmes the 3DEXPERIENCE company and world leader in 3D design software, 3D Digital Mock Up and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions, has entered into an association with CADD Centre, Asia’s biggest network of franchise-based training centres. The association will facilitate access to world class skills for the vast talent pool in the country. Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform will be part of the curriculum across 520 CADD centres in India and outside. Annually 4000 learners shall be skilled on CATIA applications.
The CADD Centre provides the widest range of software tools and project management training comprising of Foundation, Diploma, Professional, Master Diploma and Special courses. It also offers Corporate Training for employed professionals, to aid in their becoming technology and business leaders of the future. The association between Dassault Systèmes and CADD Centre will be part of Dassault Systèmes Education Partner Programme (EPP).
“We understand the criticality of bridging the skills gap in the country and the partnership with CADD Centre will help us address this issue,” said Dr. Chandan Chowdhury, Managing Director India, Dassault Systèmes. Expressing his enthusiasm on CADD Centre’s association with Dassault Systèmes, Mr S. Karaiadiselvan, Managing Director, CADD Centre Training Services said, “Technical Training has been always critical but the focus on this has only increased in the recent past. Dassault Systèmes’ applications are a great way of equipping the talent pool in India to operate effectively in an altered and complex economy”.
Plumber Training and Air Conditioning Programs
Hyderabad-based Dhanush EnggServices India Pvt. Ltd (MEP Centre) which is the training partner of National Skill Development Council (NSDC) will also offer Plumber Training and Air Conditioning Programs under MEP (Mechanical/HVAC, Electrical and Plumbing). These include 45 Day Plumber Training Program and Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning (HVAC), Electrical – Building Services and Plumbing with specializations in Design, Drafting and Execution.
The Plumbers program will commence from 21st January, 2015 and will start from 1st and 5th of every month.. The training is provided in 3 levels as per the experience and education qualification. The Level 1 is for Plumber Helper, qualification could be 5th pass or fail and no experience required as plumber. The Level 2 is for Plumber Assistant, qualification could be 5th pass or fail and should be working as an Plumber helper. The level 3 is for General Plumber, qualification should be 8th Class and should be working as plumber assistant. The students will under go an assessment by a third party and once they pass the same the certificate will be issued. The Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning (HVAC), Electrical – Building Services and Plumbing with specializations in Design, Drafting and Execution classes will commence every month on 6th and 21st. The students who are planning to go abroad can do MEP Design / MEP Drafting as well. The students will get certification after they complete the project works and assessment.
Railway station to house skilling hubs
Pratap Rudy, Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and parliamentary affairs said, skill development will be the focus of the Government. Speaking at the plenary session of the ‘Pravasi Bharati Diwas’ he said developed countries have a skilled work force of 60% of the total population, while India has a skilled force of only 2%. The Minister said Prime Minister has initiated an action plan to focus on training the people in skill development. He said 6000 Railway stations having 43,000 kms of optical Fiber Network across the country will be used for training the youth for better skills. Sri.Rudy said these Railway stations have the necessary facilities like, water, electricity and connectivity and are spread across the length and breadth of the country. These will be places for skill Development as they have infrastructure needed for the training and will take care of the training needs of the local populace. Minister said the training will be undertaken by Master trainers and the Defense Personnel. However, experts don’t have very opinion about minister’s suggestion saying that earlier attempts proved disastrous with high noise levels and disturbance even for railway training.
