Chandigarh
18 September 2021
DIVYA AZAD
In a bid to empower India’s youth and encourage more trainers to join the Skill India Mission, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) today honoured trainers and launched four new trades at a digital conclave organized on the third edition of Kaushalacharya Awards. At the event, 41 trainers from Skill India’s several initiatives and training programmes — Directorate General of Training (DGT), Apprenticeship, Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS) and Entrepreneurship — were felicitated for their contribution towards creating a future-ready skilled workforce and ensuring that capacity-building is a continued endeavour.
Of the 41 trainers who were felicitated, Gursharan Singh (PMKVY), Shivi Joshi (DGT), Dr. Gaurav Bansal (DGT) and Nisha Aggarwal (JSS) from Punjab were awarded for their outstanding contribution to the skill ecosystem.
Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Minister of Education, said, “It is truly an auspicious day today when we get to honour the creator of the universe and the creators of our skill ecosystem. Through these prestigious awards, we recognise the contribution of our trainers in building a skilled and future-ready workforce aligned with the vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat. To truly achieve this ambition, it is important that we lay emphasis on skilling, reskilling and upskilling our youth and all talented people who can work towards nation-building. MSDE is committed to address the skills gap that exists in the country and towards this, we are proud to launch these four new courses, equipping our youth with new-age skills. I am confident that our efforts will ensure high skilling standards in the country and will meet the demands the industry.”
Trainers were honoured for their contribution under various categories. Five trainers were awarded under the two categories of PMKVY Trainer and Excellence in PMKVY Master Trainer. Nine trainers received the award under JSS and two trainers were rewarded for their contribution to entrepreneurship. In addition, five candidates received awards under the apprenticeship category and two trainers were awarded from DGT for non-engineering category. Two awardees were felicitated in Engineering category. Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs), pillars of India’s vocational training ecosystem, had as many as 11 trainers who were felicitated.
The event also saw the roll out of four CTIs trades in NSTI (National Skill Training Institute) namely Lift & Escalator Mechanic; Computer Aided Embroidery and Designing; Multimedia Animation & Special Effects; and Information Technology, from the session beginning 2021-2022. 53 other trades launched on July 15th are under planning and will begin soon.
The objective of these courses is to train the workforce for a future-ready ecosystem and create a competitive economy with high-wage jobs. The session for the course will commence from 2021-2022 at five NSTIs with 25 seating capacities each located at Howrah, Noida, Indore, Mumbai, and Bangalore. Four of these five shortlisted NSTIs are exclusively for women.
In the past couple of years, a lot of emphasis has been laid on programmes to train trainers and assessors to ensure the objective of Skill India Mission is realized and the youth get the best and most updated training in their chosen trades. Training of trainers is being provided to exceptional and excellent trainers in National Skill Training Institutes under DGT, various Sector Skill Councils under NSDC, Skill Universities and Private Training Providers.
Furthermore, NSDC in collaboration with Singapore Polytechnic and Tamasek Foundation has developed new guidelines for standardized skill development across the country. Under this, reflective practice and self-directed teaching is being implemented in all training centers and NSDC has certified 45,000 trainers, 26,000 assessors, 3,000 master trainers and 817 leads under 196 job roles from 14 sectors.
DGT has also struck partnerships with leading corporates like SAP, Adobe, Cisco, IBM and NASSCOM to develop industry-oriented courses and has collaborated with National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development (NIESBUD) to provide advanced training to trainers. The Craft Instructor Training Scheme (CITS) of DGT is aimed at ensuring trainers are provided industry-linked training to meet emerging demands for job roles. This scheme is being implemented in 33 NSTI and 18 training centres and will train about 12000 trainers every year.
In order to boost skilling at the rural level, Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS) implements the Training for Trainers programme under which 2300 JSS are engaged in capacity-building training of over 5,000 skilled individuals to boost training potential in far-flung locations.
Kaushalacharya Awards are a step in this direction. By recognising the contribution of trainers to the Indian skilling ecosystem the annual event paves the way for more trainers to join the movement. It is aimed at encouraging experienced skilled professionals to play a role in shaping the country’s young minds by leading them on the pathway to better livelihood.
