New Delhi : The Ministry of Skill Development and NSDC has reveled that it is not possible that all students getting skills training will get jobs and the focus should also be on self-employment and development of entrepreneurial abilities.
But, they are planning to keep a tighter watch on placements of candidates under its flagship schemes.
“As per the new PMKVY-II guidelines, 20 percent of the funds will be released only if there is 50 percent placement within three months of training. Placements will determine the grading of a vendor for future funds,” said Manish Kumar, CEO, NSDC, expressing disbelief at the placement data.
PMKVY-II, which aims to skill one crore people between 2016 and 2020, has now been partially linked to outcomes and placements. “NSDC will also check continuity through a Monthly Information System to check that placed candidates do not run away in one or two months,” Kumar added.
The NSDC, in a statement, further said that it does not have have any specific guidelines to stop funding of Training Partners on non-placement. But for PMKVY, the placement performance of a training centre will also be feeding into the grading matrix.
“If the placement performance of the centre does not match up to the minimum mandate on regular basis, it will lose its Star Grades and eventually will not be allocated target under PMKVY,” it said.
Sources said plans are also afoot to do dipstick surveys of students. “The idea is to monitor at least some of the students for three to six months after certification and periodically ask them if they have a job,” said a person familiar with the development.
While inadequate growth in employment in the country has been a point of debate for some time now, industry and experts said that efforts are on to ensure that more jobs are created. However, they argue that skilling is necessary to ensure employability.
“Is there regular monitoring of students who go for traditional higher studies? The NSDC has achieved quite a bit since its inception. Efforts are on to make skilling more outcome-oriented,” said Saugato Roy Choudhary, Director and Head (Skill Development), CII.
Sector skill councils in sectors like tourism and hospitality, retail and healthcare are understood to be asking member companies to recruit candidates who have been skilled. Industry also believes that the Labour Market Information System, that aims to connect companies with workers across the country, will also be helpful in placing skilled workforce.
Note: News shared for public awareness with reference from the information provided at online news portals.
