The Pioneer, 16th July 2014
With an aim to generating skilled manpower, a national multi-skills programme called Skill India is proposed by the Budget. This programme will train youth in traditional professions like carpenters, masons, blacksmiths, cobblers, welders, weavers etc. The only emphasis of this initiative is to make the coming generation employable and develop leadership and entrepreneur skills.
“Skill India is a great initiative. If there is anything that our students lack, it is creativity. And this initiative will cover that as well. Aspirants will be encouraged to work in teams and create things while learning. They’ll get to understand the nuances of the profession and will be given freedom to innovate. Apart from learning the basic skills like communication, presentation etc, these children will self learn while working on their projects and may consider opening their own start-ups and incubators. It will also provide training and support for traditional professions,” Sushma Paul Berlia, president of Apeejay Education Society, says.
In a few public schools, students are encouraged to do internships in their choice of field so that they get a clarity on which field they would like to make a career in, instead of wasting time and figuring out at the last moment about what one wants. By making students employable in the market, they’ll contribute to the GDP of the economy. Also merging higher education with vocational training is a good step to impart practical training,” PankajBansal, CEO of PeopleStrong HR Services Pvt. Ltd, says.
The NSDC’s Star (Skill Certification and Monetary Reward Scheme) programme which was launched last year, will continue this year as well and will be more demand driven. This programme help skill development of the youth and provide monetary rewards for successful completion of the programme.
This article was published on The Pioneer