Upgrade skills to compete in global events, Ker minister tells

Skill development has become a key factor to vie for honours in global competitions and youngsters in the state should live up to the challenge by upgrading their skills, Kerala Labour Minister T P Ramakrishnan said on Wednesday.

Though the state can boast of progress in most of the fields, our skill development needs to be improved with respect to the rising global demand, the minister said.

He was interacting with the winners of World Skills Competitions 2019, Asia Skills Competitions, Euroskill Competitions, India Skills 2018 and Global Skills Australia.

Ramakrishnan said the government was giving emphasis on skill development through events like India Skills Kerala 2020, which sets the stage for youngsters to compete in a wide range of vocational and non-vocational skills.

In India Skills Kerala 2020, we have included 42 skill competitions, more than doubling from 20 categories last year.

The event was jointly organised by the Industrial Training Department and Kerala Academy for Skills Excellence (KASE), the States Skill Development Mission under the Labour and Skills Department.

The State level winners of India Skills Kerala 2020 will make it to India Skills National 2020, and the national winners will get the opportunity to participate in World Skills 2021, Shanghai, China.

Popular skills like cooking and hair-dressing have found entry into the contest list of the India Skills Kerala 2020.