QUEEN'S ROAD: Several companies in Bengaluru are offering programmes to mark World Youth Skills Day on Wednesday.
Last November, the United Nations General Assembly declared July 15 as World Youth Skills Day.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveils a new national policy for skill development and entrepreneurship.
Bosch
In January, Bosch signed an MOU with the Karnataka government to help develop skills at 25 industrial training institutes for 10 years.
“There is a huge demand for skill development in India where not many go for higher education,” said Soumitra Bhattacharya, Joint MD of Bosch India.
Bosch Vocational Training is a German vocational system known across the world. This is an extremely successful three-year model and 212 apprentices have received gold medals.
Bosch has also started its two-month Bridge programme, run across 60 centres. Bridge is an acronym for Bosch Response India Development Growth Employability.
“We started this two years ago and have trained and employed 1,800 youth. The current short-term programme has achieved 100 per cent placement and not in Bosch by design,” he said.
Bridge courses have helped improve the infrastructure of at the government’s industrial training institutes. “We have given our curriculum, which is up-to-date. We have also improved the classrooms. Bosch works on a long-term view,” he said.
Drona School
Drona School of Engineering Practice, founded in 2011, offers a six-month course for Rs 40,000 to make engineering graduates job-ready.
G Raj Narayan, Chief Mentor at Drona and Founder and MD of Radel Group, says, “We need to not just Make in India, but also Create in India, Design in India and Innovate in India.”
A trainee at Drona can choose from a variety of subject modules that have combinations of embedded software, embedded electronics design, avionics, mechanical CAD design, PCB design, technical documentation and project management, apart from a basic introduction to production, planning, administration and HR.
MeritTrac
MeritTrac offers testing and assessment services, and has launched its Graduate Employability Assessment test to help students be industry-ready when they graduate. Vasu K Saksena, CEO, said, “We published our first Graduate Employability Report in 2006.”
We have not observed a significant change in employability figures during this time.” Reviewing strengths and weaknesses early helps people land good jobs, he said.
1to1help
Another company called 1to1help.net offers counselling to professionals and employees in 150 companies in the corporate and IT sectors.
With a team of 115 counsellors and dieticians across 20 cities in India, the company imparts in-house training and supervision.
Karuna Baskar, Director, 1to1help.net, explains, “According to the latest United Nations records, India has the world’s largest youth population, with numbers touching 356 million, despite having a smaller population than China.”
Lets Corp
Shravan Charya, founder and CEO of Lets Corp, says, “At the heart of our youth’s future success lies the intelligent development of skills.”
LetsCareerUp.com, the flagship product of the company, connects students, academicians, working professionals and employers with the objective of transforming the human capital in the country.
Ramabhadran A P, Senior Vice-President, Education Services, Manipal Global Education Services, says, “According to credible estimates, there will be a shortfall of skilled manpower to the tune of around 56 million by 2020.”
The company offers long and short term certification programmes in IT/ITES, finance and accounting, retail, management and digital marketing.
It says it has trained over 20,000 professionals.