'HRD Ministry agrees to making ITI course equivalent to 12th'

The HRD Ministry has agreed to making two-year diploma courses at Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) equivalent to Class 12 to ensure greater participation, Union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy said today.
"HRD ministry is agreeable to making two-year diploma courses at ITIs equivalent to Class 12 in order to ensure greater participation but waiting for a committee's report," the Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Minister said at an Assocham function here.
About 17 per cent of engineering graduates and 15 per cent of management graduates are unemployable or unemployed, he said adding out of 18 lakh seats, nearly 8 lakh engineering seats are vacant.

"Now, we have created almost 18 lakh seats for ITIs and 18 lakh seats for engineering," Assocham quoted the minister as saying in a release.
Speaking at the event, Sunil Kanoria, President Assocham said that less than 4 per cent of workforce has received any formal vocational training, and this figure is in stark contrast with 75 per cent in Germany and almost 50 per cent in China.