Karnataka to impart trade skills in 100 schools

The Karnataka government will soon impart skills to students in 100 schools across the state under the centrally sponsored scheme of vocational training in secondary education.

"We have signed an agreement with the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) to implement the revised scheme across 100 schools in five trades," the state education department said in a statement here Thursday.

The scheme funded by the central and state governments, will be operated under the national vocational educational qualifications framework to certify school students in vocational skills.

The scheme will make students of Classes nine to 11 employable after they complete secondary education. "We hope to deliver standard training modules for harnessing skills of students at school level so that they are trained and made employable at an young age. We see huge potential in the youth of Karnataka in learning the vocational skills for a better future," said NSDC principal Rajiv Mathur.

The corporation has recently unveiled the standard training assessment and reward scheme to financially help those keen to acquire a new skill or upgrade their skills to a higher lever. The financial aid will be given to those students certified by assessors for the skills acquired in vocational trades such as carpentry, operating lathe machines, electrical fittings, plumbing and tailoring.

Set up by the Union finance ministry in 2010 under the public-private partnership with 51 percent equity held by private sector and 49 percent by the central government, the not-for-profit corporation has 26 sector skill councils and 104 training partners, with 2,500 training centres in 400 districts across the country. The corporation has been mandated to impart vocational skills to about 150 million youth across the country by 2022.

IANS