VIJAYAWADA: The State government is building a unique ‘Skill Cascading Ecosystem’ with industry-academia tie-ups to create an aspirational brand in skilling youth and making them job-ready.The existing technical and vocational education and training institutes in the State will become a part of this cascading ecosystem, with the proposed Skill University at the top of the pyramid and various industries serving as spokes for training youth in different vocations.
“We are now shifting our approach from supply-driven to demand-driven skilling to meet the requirements of the industry. For this, we are tying up with industries in a very big way to build the latest skill infrastructure,’’ Principal Secretary of Skill Development and Training Department S Suresh Kumar said.
“The cascading ecosystem is the first of its kind in the country. It will be an integrated model that will address the shortcomings in the existing skill development programmes and enable a holistic training regime with next-age programmes. These will be aligned with future job requirements of the industry,’’ he stated while adding that the endeavour was to achieve national and global recognition to the skilled youth of the State.
There are 26 skill colleges (one in each parliamentary constituency and one in Pulivendula) and 192 hubs in the State. Further, Central and State government institutes that have high-end infrastructure were also being identified for established skill colleges. Skill labs would also be set up in these colleges with support from the industry.
“Each skill college will have a Centre of Excellence in alliance with the industry,’’ Suresh Kumar said and added that the tie-up would extend to providing jobs for the successfully trained youth. About 55 industries have come forward to tie up with the AP State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC) to serve as ‘skill spokes’ on their own premises and train youth to suit their requirements.
“These would be industry-customised Skill Training and Placement (ICSTP) initiatives,’’ he said. The placement rate is very high under ICSTP as 15,487 out of 16,492 trained have secured jobs in industries. The government has initiated measures to enhance the quality of training infrastructure and human resources in the skill centres.
Further, Suresh Kumar said Skill International was the newest initiative of the APSSDC aimed at tapping employment opportunities for skilled youth in foreign countries. “Our first batch of 11 trained nurses got successful placement in Germany and 78 more are now undergoing training under German trainers,’’ he pointed out.“We will soon have a robust skill eco-system in the State as we have embarked on a major modernisation drive in all technical and skill institutes,’’ he highlighted.