Chandigarh seeks CII help to bridge skill shortage

The advisor to the Chandigarh administration on Monday invited the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to partner aggressively with governments and skill development agencies to meet the skill gap shortage.

"Why is there such a huge mismatch between industry's requirements and skills produced by our institutes is a huge question that needs to be answered," said K K Sharma, while addressing the 4th CII Edu Summit, organised by CII, in partnership with National Skill Development Agency (NSDA) & the Haryana government.

"Since industry is the best judge as to what kind of skills they require the most, industry should collaborate and participate with vocational and educational institutes, universities, government agencies and skilling centres to develop curricula, suggest and decide on courses to be promoted. We are ready to proceed as per your feedback."

Chandigarh has got good response for its vocational and soft skills programmes, included from Class IX, he said.

"Now, we are trying to expand it. We have also started a smart school to cater to southern sectors and, especially, children from under-privileged sections. We have also launched a campaign called the Rashtriya Uchhattar Shiksha Abhiyan with the vice-chancellor of Punjab University as the chairman," the advisor said.

Sharing details of an initiative for the differently-abled, he said, "Differently-abled children were thrilled to learn how to make bakery items at a programme launched at Hotel Management Institute."