Srinagar: In a first, toppers from 72 trades taught at Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) in Jammu and Kashmir were felicitated at a convocation ceremony held here on Sunday.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha presided over the convocation ceremony and felicitated the toppers.
On the occasion, the LG launched Innovation Portal by Jammu and Kashmir Science, Technology, and Innovation Council, Department of Science and Technology. An e-platform for ranking polytechnics in Jammu and Kashmir was also launched for more transparency. LG launched a revised curriculum for the 3rd semester as per the New Education Policy, an official press release informed.
“J&K has the potential to become the top-most place when it comes to skills. We need to focus on these institutions because they’re creating the future of this valley. Mission Youth and other academic institutions are creating opportunities for youth. We will create an industry for these pass-outs who will not only learn skills there but get a job as well,” Sinha said in his address.
A holistic and quality-driven ITI ecosystem should be strengthened in line with the increasing demand for skilled workforce in J&K, he said.
“For many decades ITIs served as a backbone of the skill sector and made immense contributions to progress and production of industries. With the exponential growth of technology and emergence of new sunrise sectors, ITIs need to be transformed to meet the demand of skilled workforce,” the LG said.
Speaking on the demographic advantage of the UT, the LG said “J&K has the potential to become the highly-skilled human resource capital of the country.”
In order to convert its potential into reality and create a future workforce, the skill ecosystem like ITIs and polytechnics will have to play a crucial role, he said.
Skilled workforce will drive the growth of the economy in the future. Therefore, the skills our workforce possesses should be future-ready, he added.
At the Convocation, the LG directed the Skill Development Department to assess the demand for district-wise skills, carry out mapping of existing skills and demand to make necessary changes in the curriculum or to introduce new vocational training courses keeping in mind the demand and aspirations of the youth.
All ITIs should have direct links with the local job market and industries, and relevant departments must support the ITI graduates who want to start their own enterprises, he said.
The LG further advised for roping in experts for training in Industries 4.0 and started a ‘Training of Trainers’ program so that the trainers of both ITI and polytechnic institutions are fully skilled and capable of producing the workforce of the future.
“We need to put special focus on the hospitality sector, promotion of agri-preneurs and support to Self Help Groups. Every ITI should also establish linkage with one industry and it should ensure the passing-out students of ITIs get employment,” he added.
Saurabh Bhagat, Commissioner Secretary Skill Development Department, said more than 12,000 students get ITI degrees every year. “Today, we felicitated the toppers from 72 trades in which we offer courses. Some of the students come from remote districts and they have topped at the national level.”
The trades have been introduced as per the requirement of the industry, Bhagat said.
“We have introduced Surya Mitr, Smart City technician courses, food technology. We are introducing new branches like robotics and artificial intelligence. The purpose is that our pass-outs are industry-ready,” he said.
He said Jammu and Kashmir is getting huge investments and the ITIs will play an important role in industrial development of the union territory.
“ITI sector is going to play an important role in the industrial development of Jammu and Kashmir. We want to make this sector such that the youth should not only rush towards government jobs or white collar jobs. They can become entrepreneurs,” he said.
Bhagat said there is a need to increase the intake in the ITIs.
“Our effort is to revise the syllabus, introduce such trades so that as soon as the students leave the ITI, they get jobs. More than 60,000 students had applied for the 12,000 ITI seats that we have. In some ITIs where we have automobile trade, we have 50 applications for each seat. So we need to increase the intake capacity,” he added.
Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, Advisor to LG lauded the contribution of skilled workforce in the development of J&K and the country.
The LG also felicitated the young entrepreneurs and presided over the Memorandum of Understanding signing ceremony between the Skill Development Department and J&K Energy Development Agency (JKEDA) for the training of 500 Suryamitras, the press release said.
A booklet on skill development in J&K was also released on the occasion.
Aftab Malik, Chairman, District Development Council Srinagar; Dr Nazir Ahmed Ganai, Vice Chancellor SKUAST Kashmir; Vice Chancellors of various universities, senior officials, heads of ITIs and polytechnics, teachers, and the parents of the graduating students were present, the press release said. (With additional inputs from PTI)
