Govt to impart skill training to 40 cr by 2022

NEW DELHI: A national board for assessment and certification (NBAC) for skill development programmes, aimed at creating an employable workforce and entrepreneurs,

NEW DELHI: A national board for assessment and certification (NBAC) for skill development programmes, aimed at creating an employable workforce and entrepreneurs, and ITIs that run through public-private partnership mode are on the agenda of the ministry for skill development and entrepreneurship (MSDE).

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MSDE minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy on Tuesday said an act is being drafted for setting up the NBAC to iron out issues that crop up in the absence of a common board for assessment and certification purposes. “I am sure we will be able to take this in the July session of Parliament,” he said.

The board will combine industry-led SSC certification processes and government-authorised National Council of Vocational Training certification and will act as a one-stop shop for examinations, assessments and awarding national-level certificates.

The ministry, which has imparted skills training to 1.04 crore people in 2015-16, has a target of covering 40 crore by 2022.

Rudy said Cabinet’s nod will be sought for setting up 1,500 ITIs under PPP mode; under an agreement with the HRD ministry, those who complete a two-year ITI course will get a 10th pass certificate if the student has already studied till class 8. Similarly, if a student has passed class 10 and has an ITI, it would make them eligible for a 12th-pass certificate.

“It is a historic decision. As many as 18 lakh students pass out from ITIs and in the last 66 years there was no validity of ITI certificate for further studies. Now through the National Institute of Open Schooling, students who have passed 10th and have a two-year ITI certificate, we will give them the 12th-equivalent certificate and it will have pan-India validity,” he said.