Set up ‘vocational university’ to tap demographic dividend, says CII

The need to train millions of workers, particularly at lower levels, and making them employable was the crux of the seminar – Employment Exchanges to Employability Centres – organised here by the Confederation of Indian Industry recently.

A ‘vocational university’, improving the brand image of vocational skills, creating user-friendly digitised platform in employment exchanges, increasing employability and setting up counselling centres were among the key proposals that came up for discussion at the seminar.

Mr S. Mahalingam, Chairman, CII National Committee on Skills and Executive Director and CFO of Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, said vocational education programmes were necessary to make the best use of the demographic dividend the country enjoys. There is a need for radical changes in the course curricula and the skill training infrastructure. There were a lot of skills required across sectors such as construction, manufacturing, service-related industry including hospitality and healthcare.

CII, with the support of the Tamil Nadu Skill Development Mission and the Government of Tamil Nadu, has carried out an in-depth analysis of the human resource potential of the State.

A copy of the report titled, ‘Human Resource Assessment for Tamil Nadu 2012’ was handed over to Mr Mohan Pyare, Principal Secretary, Department of Labour and Employment, Government of Tamil Nadu.

Mr Pyare said the Government had embarked on a programme to modernise the employment exchanges to make them ‘more citizen-friendly’. There was also a proposal to create private placement cells.

Mr R. Dinesh, Chairman, CII Tamil Nadu State Council and Joint Managing Director, TVS & Sons Ltd, said the focus must be on vocational stream of education and “we should try and create a ‘vocational university’ and also must intertwine vocational education in the formal education system”.

He also suggested public-private partnership in digitising the employment exchanges and skill development at lower levels would be beneficial for the eco-system.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/education/article3699838.ece

Australia’s top vocational students recognized

Five hundred of the nation’s most skilled students have been recognised for their efforts in vocational education and training in schools.

Acting Minister for School Education, Senator Chris Evans, today announced the successful recipients of the 2011 Australian Vocational Student Prize and the Prime Minister’s Award for Skills Excellence in School.

“The Australian Vocational Student Prize recognises students who have demonstrated exceptional skills and commitment while completing a Vocational Education and Training in Schools program, or an Australian School-based Apprenticeship,” Senator Evans said.

“In addition, 20 students who strive to be the best and achieve outstanding results are awarded the Prime Minister’s Award for Skills Excellence in School.”

Winners of the Prime Minister’s Award for Skills Excellence in School are selected from the top Australian Vocational Student Prize recipients and are awarded in state and territory, industry and Indigenous categories. All 500 winners receive $2000 and a certificate recognising their achievements.

“Both of these prizes promote and recognise vocational education in schools as a valuable pathway for students,” Senator Evans said.

“Through their studies, winners of these awards have gained a better understanding of the workplace, and have developed industry-specific skills that will help them get work in their chosen career.”

The Australian Vocational Student Prize is the vocational equivalent of the academic Australian Student Prize, another initiative aimed at recognising the achievements of students and their schools.

“The Australian Vocational Student Prize and the Prime Minister’s Award for Skills Excellence in School are another part of the Gillard Government’s commitment to giving all Australian students world-class opportunities,” Senator Evans said.

“They are in addition to other support, including our $2.5 billion Trade Training Centres in Schools Program to help school to get an industry-standard qualification and our $4.1 million Indigenous Ranger Cadetship pilot program, which gives Indigenous students culturally relevant training for jobs in their local community including land, sea and natural resource management.”

FICCI, AICTE join hands to bridge skill shortage in healthcare

Ficci has joined hands with All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) for developing vocational courses in the healthcare sector with a view to meeting the workforce shortage in the segment. 

The chamber said that an analysis of availability of healthcare human resources from the present bed capacity in the country and underlying demand for building additional capacity shows that the scenario is indeed "alarming". 

"In the next 10 years, the number of doctors needs to be doubled from its current figure of 750,000: nurses needs to be tripled from 3.7 million and the paramedics and technician assistants need to be quadrupled from the present number of 2.75 million," it said in a statement. 

It said that the rapid technological advancement in the medical, diagnostic and management systems are creating the need for new skills. 

"But there are limited formal training and education programmes in the country. Large corporate and privatehospitals run their own training programmes for such requirements which are not standardised and do not have national recognition," it said. 

To address these issues, Ficci has also set up a task force to improve the existing skill sets available in the country by identifying skill gaps and suggesting academic and training programs, related curriculum and appropriate training requirements. 

"For convergence and standardisation of such training programmes, FICCI is collaborating with AICTE to develop vocational courses in the healthcare domain," it said adding the practical training in hospitals is one of the fundamental elements of these programmes, which is aligned with industry requirement. 

Ficci has submitted 12 healthcare and paramedic course curricula to AICTE that include Bachelor in Paramedical Technician in laboratory, blood transfusion, radiography, operation theatre and critical care. 

"All the courses are competency-based modules and are open to revisions to ensure that the curriculum is guided by needs of the industry," it said. 

It added that the courses would soon be notified on AICTE's website and will be open to be taken up by the industry and educational institutes. 

Educational institutes such as schools, colleges and polytechnics will work in partnership with the skill knowledge providers like hospitals and laboratories to scale up the number of trained technicians in the country, it added. 

The AICTE is an advisory body in all matters relating to technical education.

Quality courses the key to Asian market, educators told

AUSTRALIA'S higher education sector has been challenged to focus on quality if it is to regain its position as a major destination for Chinese students.

David Finegold, the senior vice-president for Lifelong Learning and Strategic Growth at Rutgers University, said Australian institutions needed to accept they had lost their dominance of the Asian market, with the US, Canada and Europe increasingly important as education destinations.

''There's a huge hunger for high-quality opportunities at all levels - TAFE, higher education and graduate degrees,'' Professor Finegold said. ''But the question is going to be whether Australia can recover and really reassert its position where it was an early leader.''

Total overseas student numbers are down 22 per cent from a peak in 2008-09 yet the number of students leaving China is growing by more than 20 per cent a year.

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China and India remain the key markets, home to 35 per cent of the global workforce. Australia's early success was built on proximity, value and the opportunity to pursue permanent residency. A booming dollar is wiping out the cost advantage, while visa rules have been tightened.

''The focus has to shift to quality and value,'' he said. ''The first wave might have been easy pickings. The government said you can go and recruit, they charged high fees and got lots of international students without having to ask: 'Are we delivering high-value education? Are we placing these students in good jobs?'.''

This view is echoed by the general manager, sales and marketing, of UTS:Insearch, Belinda Howell. ''Whereas Australia was accessible and well priced, it is now considerably more expensive than study in the US.''

As a lure, lifestyle will not work, Ms Howell emphasised.

''Chinese parents and students are much more goal-oriented than that. They are much more focused. The first question they ask agents is what is a good career for my child. Then it's what course do they have to do to get that career. And then, how much money will they earn and will they get a job,'' she said.

''We need to be articulating the benefits of Australia on that wavelength and not in terms of sun, surf and sand.''

An overseas education remained a huge expense for Chinese families, said Professor Finegold, who yesterday addressed an Adelaide conference organised by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research. But what has changed is an increasing desire to develop skills that can be used in their home country rather than hoping their degree will be a pathway to permanent residency.

''Now, the vast majority of students are looking to work for a few years and gain really good experience but they recognise that many of the best growth opportunities will be when they go back,'' he said.

Ms Howell predicted Australia's two-year post-university work visa would be a strong selling point.

''Students want things that are really powerful on their CV because they are all focused on what's going to differentiate them from millions of other students,'' she said.

''Australia needs to be much more at the forefront of promoting educational quality and the value of its education - not just to operate in Australia but to operate in any relevant environment.''

http://www.theage.com.au/national/quality-courses-the-key-to-asian-market-educators-told-20120712-21yvb.html 

NSDC Funded Organizations 10 - Centum Learning

In the series of informative articles about NSDC funded organizations, this is the 10^th organization covered in this blog. For NSDC funded organizations 1 to 9 refer to articles published in the months August & September 2011.

Centum Learning Limited provides end-to-end training programmes and skill development solutions aimed at productivity improvement for businesses on one hand, and employability enhancement for youth on the other. It has conceptualized an innovative business model which addresses the entire talent supply chain ranging from students who have just passed Class 8 to Post Graduates and even professionals in large corporates.

Centum Learning’s offerings spread across four main verticals:

1.            Corporate Training
2.            Skill Development
3.            Professional Education & Training
4.            Employment Generation

Having a global presence across 17 countries in Africa, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, Centum Learning comes with rich experience in the training and development domain across 21 industry verticals. With more than 1000 training and development specialists, Centum Learning works with many leading corporates including American Express, Airtel, Genpact, Maruti Suzuki, Delhi International Airport, PepsiCo, Bharti Walmart, HCL, Cummins, LG Electronics, JCB, Bharti AXA Life Insurance, Deutsche Bank, Motilal Oswal, Blue Dart, CEAT, Everest Industries etc. to impact their business goals.

Furthermore, in order to leverage India’s demographic dividend, Centum Learning has established Centum WorkSkills India Limited in partnership with National Skills Development Corporation (NSDC) to skill 12 million Indian youth and make them employable.

In the professional education space, the organization has set up more than 170 Centum Learning Centres in 150 cities spread across India to bridge the talent gap. In addition, Centum Learning has also launched Centum U which offers workforce degrees in association with globally acclaimed universities and institutes.

Ministry of Rural Development

·         Partnering with Ministry of Rural Development, Govt. of India to skill 20,000 youth across Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Punjab, Himanchal Pradesh and Orissa

·         Partnered with Ministry of Rural Development, Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana scheme to train & place 150 rural youth from the districts of Delhi under Skills Training for Employment Promotion against urban poor (STEP UP)

Ministry of Urban Development

·         Providing placement linked training with Bhopal Municipal Corporation under the project - Swarn Jayanti Shahri Rozgar Yojana

Ministry of Panchayati Raj

·         Partnering with Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Govt. of Orissa to train over 40,000 representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions, across 10 districts of Orissa

Ministry of Home Affairs

·         Providing vocational skills to youth comprising surrendered militants, on the Indo-Bhutan border in Assam, in association withSashastra Seema Bal

Govt of Assam

·         Enhancing employability of tribal youth in partnership with Department of Employment Craftsmanship and Training (DECT), Govt. of Assam

Govt of Gujrat

·         Signed an MoU with Industries Directorate Employment & Training, Govt. of Gujrat to establish four skill development centers

Employment Generation Marketing Mission (EGMM)

·         Partnered with Employment Generation Marketing Mission (EGMM), a society set up by the Department of Rural Development, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh to skill 5000 unemployed rural youth of the state

Directorate of Gas Relief and Rehabilitation

·         Entered into a collaboration with Directorate of Gas Relief & Rehabilitation to train & skill the family members of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy victims

Gurgaon Police

·         Skilled police force on being sensitive to the needs of the public, achieving communication excellence and providing service with integrity & compassion

Directorate General of Resettlement (DGR), Ministry of Defense

·         Imparted vocational skills in the area of Travel & Tourism to a retired pool of Indian Army personnel, Directorate General of Resettlement (DGR), Ministry of Defence

Corporate office

Centum Learning Limited
Neelagagan, Mandi Road, Sultanpur, Mehrauli,
New Delhi - 110030.
Ph - 91-11-46001100
Fax: 91-11-46001111

For more information write to:
jabasen.menon@centumlearning.com

contactus@centumlearning.com

OBAMA-SINGH,,,,, Vocational Education

The education circle is abuzz with latest international tie-ups. Mahatma Gandhi University has partners in Brown, Duke and Plymouth State University while Banaras Hindu University has found an able ally in University of Pittsburgh.

With announcement of Obama-Singh 21st century Knowledge Initiative, United States-India Educational Foundation (USIEF) has announced an open competition to support exchange of knowledge that may include but may not be limited to curriculum design, research collaboration, seminars and a host of other activities. These should be designed in a manner to create expertise, develop scholarship and teaching, and promote a consistent, long-term association with partner institutions.

Rutgers University is slated to partner with Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai to help fill dire needs of the world’s largest young workforce and widen their skills.

One of the main facets of the partnership is to create a new national and vocational multi-skill school in India that will train about one million people each year. A $250,000 grant from Obama-Singh Knowledge Initiative has been identified to fund Rutgers-Tata Institute’s efforts to build India’s higher education capacity.

In this regard, vocational-isation of secondary schooling is considered an important step in increasing vocational relevance of education and in helping students prepare for effective participation in any area of work. Right from 1st Five Year Plan to the 11th, importance of vocational education has been emphasised.

Though its introduction in secondary education may not be considered very appropriate for developed countries, India is looking at vocational education as a means to enhance individual employability and reduce mismatch between demand & supply of skilled manpower to industries and multinational companies. The Centre offers a set of sponsored schemes whereby financial assistance is provided to the states to set up administrative structure to conduct vocational surveys and prepare relevant curriculum, study handouts, training manual, teacher-training programme, support system for research and development, and evaluation among others.

Financial assistance is provided to NGOs and voluntary organisations for implementing specific and innovative projects and short-term courses.

Apart from the Obama-Singh Initiative, India has independent plans to broaden its trained skill force. Establishment of about 100 community colleges is in the blueprint stage.

CV Raman fellowship has been announced for first troupe of 300 faculty members for their post-doctorate research opportunities in USA. About 10,000 teaching professionals are scheduled to be sent over next five years.

Widening of skill development system, reform in higher education and development of scalable solutions are critical to India. These can quickly enhance quality and quantity of educational opportunities to 550 million Indians that are under 25 years of age. If implemented appropriately, The Obama-Singh initiative will go a long way in fulfilling this need and filling this gap. 

http://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column_obama-singh-giving-boost-to-vocational-studies_1712222

BANK LOANS FOR VOCATIONAL COURSES

 In a landmark of sorts, theIndian Banking Association (IBA) has decided to extend the ambit of its Model Educational Loan Scheme to include vocational education and training. 

This means that all banks, which are associated with IBA, as well as a other banks that RBI may include, will now also offer education loans for students in the vocational sector. 

"Vocational courses offered by ITIs ( Industrial Training Institutes), ITCs ( Industrial Training Centres), polytechnics and other technical bodies were not covered in the Model Educational Loan Scheme. (Some banks do provide loans for three-year diploma courses offered by polytechnics.) However, in view of the initiatives being taken by the government of India in skill development in recent years, a need was felt for providing institutional funding for students undergoing specialized skill development programmes in recognized institutions. The government has estimated that the country would require 10 to 15 million skilled workers every year to support the development process," says the IBA circular on the model loan scheme for vocational education and training. 

S Ramadorai, Skills Advisor to the Prime Minister, believes that this is an extremely significant move. 

The new scheme will be applicable for those studying at institutions run by the government as well as recognized private institutions. People of any age can opt for this loan. 

For a course whose duration is up to three months, students can take a loan of Rs 20,000. The figure goes up to Rs 50,000 for a course between three and six months, and Rs 75,000 for a course between six month and a year. A loan of Rs 1.5 lakh can be awarded for students pursuing a course that is over a year long. Banks can consider loans worth higher amounts for course that are over a year long, or for specific courses offered by reputed institutions.