Nearly 15,00,000 students across all the ITIs in India can access the digital learning module via the Bharat Skills portal. Directorate General of Training (DGT), under the aegis of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, today joined hands with two big private sector companies-Cisco and Accenture, to skill youth for the digital economy, through its Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs). Along with the implementation partner Quest Alliance, this program will equip students enrolled in ITIs across India with skills for the digital economy over the next two years. The organizations have entered into an agreement with the Directorate General of Training (DGT) within the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, to roll out a comprehensive future ready employability skilling program for ITI students.
The MoU was signed, in the presence of Dr. K. P Krishnan, Secretary, MSDE, by DGT’s Director General Sh. Rajesh Aggarwal, Sh Harish Krishnan, Managing Director, Public Affairs and Strategic Engagements, Cisco India and SAARC, Ms Kshitija Krishnaswamy, Director, Corporate Citizenship, Accenture in India and Sh Aakash Sethi, CEO, Quest Alliance.
The program includes tailor-made curriculum with modules for digital literacy, career readiness, employability skills and advanced technology skills such as data analytics, and a blended learning model enabled by a combination of online self-learning via the Bharat Skills portal and in-classroom modules. Nearly 15,00,000 students across all the ITIs in India can access the digital learning module via the Bharat Skills portal.
The initial phase of the in-classroom training programme is being rolled out across 227 ITIs in Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Bihar and Assam, targeting more than 1,00,000 youth. The in-classroom program will deliver more than 240 hours of training to impart critical 21st century skills including digital literacy and digital fluency skills; workplace readiness skills including creative problem solving and use of data in decision making; and career management skills including the cultivation of a growth mindset and the ability to identify and plan careers. The online module is optimized for mobile phones to enable on the-go self-learning, and the toolkit also includes train the trainer resources.
Cisco will also provide access to Networking Academy courses directly to ITI students across the country. DGT and Cisco have decided to work together for the purpose of expanding digital skills into ITI educational system across India. On the new collaboration, Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Dr. K.P Krishnan said “It is imperative that we as a nation adapt ourselves to the new age technology and skills which are market relevant today. Our ITI ecosystem has been one of the most outcome based network for skill development and this partnership today is a step further in enabling and empowering our industrial institutes with the latest in digital skilling,” .
Commenting on the partnership, DGT’s Director General Shri Rajesh Aggarwal said, “Our aim at DGT is to constantly upgrade and modernize our ITIs across levels in terms of their infrastructure, pedagogy, curriculum and technology interventions. We are aggressively ensuring we upscale ourselves while maintaining speed and standards. This is one of our endeavours to make our candidates market relevant.”
DGT under the aegis of Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship has been striving ahead in this technological age in hand holding the youth across the country & at the same time ensuring their digital skilling and industry readiness. Over the past year, DGT has collaborated with IBM, Adobe India, Microsoft & SAP to digitally revolutionize the vocational training system in India. Earlier in this year Bharat skills (https://bharatskills.gov.in), a self-learning seamless platform for ITI students & Teachers, a central repository of trade relevant study materials, video tutorials, question bank, mock test was launched. It gives the trainees an ability to learn from any location 24/7. DGT is buoyant with this partnership as this program will strengthen employability skills of the trainees and enhance their digital suaveness.
