Underscoring the Prime Minister’s vision of making India the Skill Capital of the World, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Minister of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship and Minister of Education, today launched India’s first Skill India International Centre at SDI Bhubaneswar. The Minister also launched WorldSkills Academy and National Academy for Skill Teachers at the institute and witnessed MoU signings between NSDC International with the State Government of Odisha and overseas employers.
“The launch of Skill India International Centre, WorldSkills Academy, and National Academy for Skill Teachers at SDI Bhubaneswar and the signing of MoU between NSDC and international employers are big strides towards transforming India into the skill capital of the world,” said Shri Pradhan adding that the initiatives launched today will not just open up overseas job opportunities for the youth, but will create a world-class workforce.
Shri Pradhan said that there are approximately 25 crore youngsters in India and 75 lakh in Odisha between the age group of 15-25 years. “We will leave no one behind and ensure skill, knowledge, and employability linkages for all to achieve fast-paced development of Odisha and India,” he said.
Talking about the role of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, Shri Pradhan said that the NEP 2020 is a guiding philosophy to convert aspirations into reality. “In the next decade we must collectively scale up our efforts to integrate knowledge, skill and employment with flexible entry-exits to make our youth future-ready,” Shri Pradhan said.
While advising SDI Bhubaneswar to strive to create opportunities for skilling with a focus on quality, Shri Pradhan urged other major institutes attending the event including AIIMS Bhubaneswar, IIT Bhubaneswar, ICT-IOCL BBSR, CIPET-IPT, IISER, Utkal University and all other universities to come forward, collaborate to boost skilling and reduce the employability gaps. Shri Pradhan also called upon the stakeholders in Odisha to fulfil their responsibilities and create a model and a benchmark ecosystem for quality skill development.
Among the multiple MoUs signed today, an agreement was exchanged between Mr Ved Mani Tiwari, Director, NSDC International (NSDCI) and Mr Sanjay Srivastava, CEO, SDI Bhubaneswar, in presence of Union Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Shri Subroto Bagchi, Chairman, OSDA and Shri Shri Ranjan Kumar Mohapatra, Chairman, SDI, Bhubaneswar, and Director (HR), IOCL.
Under this collaboration, Skill India International Centre will be set up for high-quality training of Indian youth, especially the aspirants from Odisha aiming to work overseas. The centre will host training facilities to provide skills as per the demand of international employers in countries like UAE, Canada, Australia and other GCC regions. The Skill India International Centre will also have a wide network of partner organisations and overseas recruiters to facilitate the supply of skilled and certified workforce in other countries.
Further, a memorandum of cooperation was signed between NSDCI and Odisha Skill Development Authority (OSDA) to promote international workforce mobility for skilled and certified workers from Odisha to other countries. NSDCI will help in aggregating demand from different countries and will help in capacity building of the state and OSDA will support in awareness, training and funding of the candidates who aspire to work overseas.
Besides the Skill India International Centre, two more academies have been launched today at SDI, Bhubaneswar. The National Academy for WorldSkills Competitions will draw global occupational standards, training and assessment norms and infrastructure requirements. The Academy will offer training of trainers, corporate training, upskilling and trade testing, thereby creating a pool of potential competitors for IndiaSkills and WorldSkills competitions.
A National Academy for Skill Teachers has also been launched today that will be delivering skilling of teachers and assessors in alignment with emerging needs of technical and vocational education. This academy would be equipped with the best facilities, infrastructure, and equipment for delivering quality training programs. The academy would identify and evaluate the impact of emerging trends in teaching and skill delivery and would prepare TVET teaching staff for the emerging job roles.
On this occasion, MoU was also exchanged between NSDCI and various international placement groups. Mr Ved Mani Tiwari, Director, NSDCI and Mr Tariq Chauhan, Chairman, EFS Facilities Group exchanged MoU to explore collaboratively, possibilities of establishing skilling and training hubs across India and globally for promoting mobility of trained, skilled and certified Indian workforce overseas. EFS Facilities Group is an integrated facilities management service, operation and maintenance solution provider across the MENASA (Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia) region.
The representatives of various UAE companies were present at the event. MoUs were also signed with EASA Saleh Al Gurg, a multidivisional business conglomerate in UAE; Khansaheb – one of the leading construction companies in UAE; Reliant HR Consultancy–a well-established manpower sourcing company; and ESPA – a plumbing service provider in UAE.
