Top skilling agenda to be revamped to kickstart regulator

The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship has taken up operationalisation of the skills regulators as the top priority on their agenda. The ministry plans on enhancing apprenticeship programmes and rejuvenating 2,500 ITIs to ensure that youths are job ready.

An extensive agenda has been prepared to avoid loss of time in setting up priorities, according to a senior government official.

The official pointed out that the ministry intends to get to work as soon as a directive is issued. They said that it is urgent that the skill regulator gets started to ensure ‘quality regulation’ and ‘right convergence’. The official noted that policy on this being would be formalised soon.

Last October, the Union Cabinet had approved the merging of the regulatory bodies in the skills space – National Council of Vocation Training and National Skill Development Agency – to form the National Council for Vocational Education and Training (NCVET).

The purpose of NCVET is to regulate the functioning of entities in the vocational education and training by establishing minimum standards for them. The primary function of the body is to monitor and recognise awarding bodies, assessment bodies, skill-related information providers, approval of qualifications developed by these awarding bodies, and sector skill councils.

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They will also regulate vocational training institutes indirectly via the awarding bodies and assessment agencies. NCVET will focus on research, information dissemination, and grievance redressal.

The official observed that the ministry would have to work with the various state governments and pull in public investments for Industrial Training Institutes to ensure that these institutes are world-class.

The ministry will have to guide the states and fund them to help upgrade their ITIs. Apprenticeship also should be enhanced by augmenting capacities 10 times.

In 2015, PM Narendra Modi launched the Skill India Mission to convert India into the ‘skill capital’ of the world. The objective was to provide skill training to 400 million people by 2022 with schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Prohatsan Yojana and the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana.