New Delhi: The government of India plans to form National Skill Certification Board, which will assess and certify skill development programmes across the country, where both government and industry will collectively enable a joint framework for quality skill training and certification. Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (Independent Charge) and Parliamentary Affairs Mr Rajiv Pratap Rudy informed this here on Tuesday (31st May 2016) while addressing a press conference on the side line of the competition of two years of the present government.
Mr Rudy today said that more than 1.04 Crore youth have been trained under the Skill India Mission in 2015-16, 36.8% higher than the previous year. In the current arrangement, 60 percent of the trainings are directly under Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship while 40 percent are across other Central Ministries. He said, a slew of policy level changes have been introduced with the launch of National Skill Development Policy and Mission as well. Today, the minister said there are more than 1500 courses that have been aligned to National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF).
The minister mentioned that skilled workforce will support and boost the government’s pet projects such as Make in India, Digital India, and Smart Cities. Over the last two years, Mr Rudy said, the number of ITIs in the country has increased from 10,750 in May 2014 to over 13,105 in May 2016 and these will be further scale up to 18,000 by September this year. More than 1141 new ITIs have been added and 1.73 seats have been increased in the last one year.
Mr Rudy also emphasized the need for promoting entrepreneurship in the light of Stand Up India and Start Up India announced by the government. He said his ministry will work to deliver Entrepreneurship, Education and training in 2200 colleges, 300 schools, 500 government ITIs and 50 Vocational Training Centres. Aspiring entrepreneurs will be connected to mentors and credit markets.