Focus on skill based courses

On the other hand, Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) is also promoting the same concept through State Boards of Technical Education.

Considered as boon, the scheme is widely helpful to brush up or attain skills irrespective of age. This is being promoted under National Vocational Educational Quality Framework (NVEQF), which is now the latest buzzword among the educational circles. The UGC-run colleges were being funded by UK while that of MHRD were financed by the US.

There is no age limit for applying but SSC is the minimum qualification for entry into the course and to get diploma training under the State Board of Technical Education and Training (MHRD one).

Under the Community Colleges scheme, eight colleges were identified in the first step by the State Board of Technical Education & Training (SBTET) to impart training to locally-skilled workforce or unemployed youth. “They will be given training-through experts- in their selected fields in three phases of three months duration- for a period of one year. A diploma certificate will be awarded at the end of the training by the SBTET, which can be helpful for them to get placement or promotion,” according to Ajay Jain, Commissioner of Technical Education. In a way, the total duration of the course is 500 hours for learning and another six months for training, he added.

“This programme allows for quick and effective delivery of skills training, allowing a person to become productive relatively quickly at younger age. It would be based on employer-employee needs, availability of infrastructure and equipment. Community colleges should offer Job oriented diploma courses with the aim to impart knowledge along with technological and life skills. Emphasis should be given to theory and practical knowledge to get employment anywhere in India” Ajay Jain explained.

The eight colleges where the community colleges have been set up were : Government Polytechnics, Warangal, Guntur, Kurnool, Mahbubnagar and Visakhpatanam; Govt Institute of Printing Technology, East Maredpally ; Government Institute of Electronics, East Maredpally and Girraj Degree College, Nizamabad. Each college has 100 seats in different courses.

Hundreds of technically-trained students have been coming out of polytechnics each year and are joining second year engineering course and as a result, there has been dearth of quality supervisors in various industries. With a view to fill this gap, government conceptualised community colleges. Government will start nearly 200 community colleges across the country in the first phase. There are more than 3500 polytechnics and equivalent technical institutions which have potential to provide skill training to millions of youth through their own facilities and or by establishing extension centres in collaboration with ITIs, or vocational skill knowledge providers, NGOs, and other colleges in the Arts Science and Commerce streams. These polytechnics can also render useful services in adoption of appropriate technologies and providing technical and support services to rural people and slum dwellers, according to senior officials of MHRD.