Students with tech qualifications to get dual-purpose 'skill passports'

New Delhi, July 16: Skilled youth of India will soon get Skill India Passport which will have passport as well as certificate of skill training of the students.

This is the first time that skilled Indians going abroad for employment will get the Skill India Passport. 

It is worth mentioning that in the digital economy, many possibilities of employment have also emerged with new age technologies like Blockchain, Big Data and Internet of Things (IoT). Today there is a great demand for data experts in India and abroad. However, many experts across the country consider these technology courses to be limited to some metro cities. 

Dr. Manisha Joshi, Dean, IILM University, says “Even today, it is difficult to combine technology and education, especially for a large population of Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. There are many reasons for this such as limited resources, lack of flexibility and financial constraints. However, the educated population in the metros is promoting skill development in their children. Here students are taking advantage of the integration of technology in education such as Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, 3D classes.” 

Though, the government says, “Skill development centres have also been started in small towns to provide training to students from remote areas. The central government is also going to open 30 Skill India international centres across the country. Skill India Passport facility will be issued by these centres. These centres will provide training and coordinate as per the requirement, giving the youth the benefit of employment opportunities abroad. Twenty-four national skill training institutes and six skill development institutes have been identified for their establishment.”

The Ministry of Skill Development has also entered into business-to-business agreements for training, assessment and recruitment with countries such as Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Jordan, Malaysia, Maldives, Morocco and Sweden. 

According to experts, the demand for skilled workforce related to hospitality and care has also increased continuously in many countries around the world. Lakhs of students were provided training in these fields at the centers of the Government of India during the Corona period and even after that. 

On hospitality training, Kunal Vasudev, COO, Indian School of Hospitality, says, “We have designed courses in collaboration with experts to match the global demand, to not only stay ahead in the present era but also keep an eye on tomorrow. Our labs are hubs of technology and innovation, where students will see, learn and benefit from the potential of new age technology.”

According to Vasudev, it is essential to understand the changes happening in this industry and prepare students accordingly so that Indian students can take charge of this industry in future as well. 

The government has also established skill hubs for training, these hubs act as nodal skill centres. Their objective is to provide opportunities for skill development and vocational training to students of classes 6-8. The students are taken to various industry centres to make them aware of the demands and changes taking place in the industries. 

According to Dr. Devinder Narang, Director of Jaipuria Institute of Management, “There have been rapid changes in the technology of many industries. In such a situation, it is even more important to provide appropriate skills to the youth. The central and state governments and educational institutions are laying emphasis on apprenticeship and vocational training programmes to equip the youth with real-world skills of work. Along with this, the needs of the industries should be met.”