Integrate vocational learning with skill development courses: Rudy

Union Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy on Tuesday pitched for integration of contemporary vocational learnings with the existing skill development courses to enhance job prospectives.

At a 'Partners' meet", organised by the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), Rudy expressed concerns over quality of education being given in Indian Technical Institutes (ITI) .

"We have total 18 lakh ITI seats in the country, of which 11 lakhs are just for electrician and fitter courses. Yet, we struggle to find a good electrician. There are several government schemes such as PMKK (Pradhan Mantri Kushal Kendra) to promote the skill development programmes. However, it alone will not help. We will have to focus on integration of subjects like computer, foreign languages in the current courses, so students can get jobs," Rudy said.

Although class 12 exams cannot get people jobs, they expect the same after doing just one and half month skill development course, he added.

Rudy said he was surprised over demand of new ITIs when existing ITIs and engineering seats were remained vacant.

He also pulled up officials of NSDC and All Indian Council for Technical Education (AICTE) for being focused on just charts and figures.

"We will have change our outlook. If you (officials) teach beauty parlour courses student how to operate computer, how to download, or teach students foreign languages like Spanish, German, they may get jobs. You will have to be proactive," Rudy said.

Rudy said that the Partners' meet had failed to attract any attention in last two years.

He said initiatives like loan to students to set up their business, tie-up with companies for employment can be taken.

--IANS

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