The 2nd meeting of a Joint Steering Committee (JSC) set up to oversee progress of India-UK collaboration in the area of Skill Development, Vocational Education and Training was held at Muskaan, The NGO at New Delhi on January 09, 2020 under the Chairmanship of Ms. Juthika Patankar, Additional Secretary, MSDE and Mr. Gavin McGillivray, Head of DFID India, Government of UK.
The committee had representation from the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Directorate General of Trainings (DGT). NITI Aayog, National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), DFID and the British Council, all whom were present.
The Department for International Development (DFID), British Council and UKEIRI have been supporting Indian skill ecosystem by bringing in international best practices in the areas of curriculum development, training of trainers and assessors, soft skills, inclusion of women and Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), across different sectors and regions.
DFID highlighted PwD skilling interventions carried out as part of Skills for Jobs programme such as capacity building through training of trainers and assessors, establishment of ITI Rajkot as Centre of Excellence for PwDs, Assistive Technology exhibition in collaboration with IIT Delhi, employer sensitization workshops and pilot on apprenticeship for the PwDs.
The JSC was held at Muskaan Centre which is the project location for the innovative pilot to promote training and placement of the candidates with Intellectual Disability. The pilot demonstrates training pedagogy, use of assistive technologies to support ID candidates and sectors for placement of the trained candidates.
The focus areas of JSC deliberations included (i) discussions on pilot to promote inclusion of women in the renewable energy sector (ii) Innovative pilot to promote skill training and employment of people with intellectual disability (iii) heterogeneity of disability and policy support to cater to specific needs under various disabilities (iv) alignment and progress of the DFID Skills for Job programme to support Skill India Mission.
