The Centre is for including vocational training as part of the curriculum at the school level, Union Minister of State for Skill Development Rajiv Pratap Rudy said today.
To create skilled manpower from the school level, talks are on with the HRD ministry to include skill development in the curriculum from standard 8 to standard 12, Rudy told reporters here after a two-day Parliamentary Consultative Committee Meeting 'Role of Sector Skill Councils'.
He said only 4 per cent of the country's working class is skilled against 94 per cent in Korea.
"We cannot progress without a skilled working force," he said but admitted that it was a challenge to the Ministry to converge 24 ministries in skill development programmes.
As different ministries carry out different skill development activities, there should be a coordination among all in order to make it more successful.
"We have already signed an MoU with Defence ministry to utilise the skill of retired defence personnel in training the youths. The personnel of Navy and Air force are presently under
training at their places before coming out to impart training to civilians," Rudy said.
About 60,000 people retire from Defence every year and the ministry will take their help to impart skill training to the people, said Rajiv Mathur, head of Standards and QA of National Skill Development Corporation.
He said construction and real estate require 3.1 crore skilled persons, while the requirement of the retail sector is 1.7 crore.
"On the basis of studies, it is estimated that an incremental 109.7 million skilled people will be required by 2022 across 24 sectors," Rudy said adding sectors like automobile, retail, handloom, leather account for about 80 per cent of requirement.
The meeting observed that there was a huge emphasis that sector skill councils should especially focus on industry linkages.
Since the SSCs role is crucial in creating the curriculum, the government should propose the formation of a National Board for Skill Certification which can focus on assessment and certification of the skill programmes being conducted across country, the recommendation said.
The committee, which for the first time held its
meeting outside Delhi, also emphasised on the need for comprehensive reforms in the role of sector Skill Councils and focus on the SSC Transit 2.0 Programme.
Rudy said, "It is high time we start focusing on industry collaboration right to the district level across the country.
We have to focus on the problem and find the solution than keep identifying the problem and then plan for the solution.
"The IT revolution in India took a long time to be at the heights where it is today, but our Skill Revolution has to happen at a much faster pace as we are sitting on a huge demographic dividend which we can reap right now," he said.
The committee also proposed that more model skill centres like the one launched in Bhubaneswar yesterday, should be opened up across states so that there is visibility of brand 'Skill India'.
Rudy said MPs should make land/buildings available in their constituencies and the National Skill Development Corporation along with its affiliated partners in the region will assist in setting up state-of-the-art skill centres to provide courses to the local youth and make them job ready.
The operational cost of the centre will be borne by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
Rudy said the Ministry has proposed two schemes to support entrepreneurship education and guidance for the path to growth for new and young entrepreneurs.
