New Delhi India January 19 ANI To strengthen the vocational and technical training framework, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship signed a Memorandum of Understanding MoU with Indira Gandhi Open University IGNOU on Tuesday.
The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship aims to link vocational education and higher education with higher education, to make India's youth more employable by creating avenues for them to access better work opportunities.
The ministry said that the programme aims to create upward mobility for students in the National Skill Training Institutes NSTI Industrial Training Institutes ITI Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras PMKK and Jan Shikshan Sansthans JSS, and that they will be able to attain higher education for better livelihood opportunities.
The ministry said 32 NSTIs, more than 3,000 government ITIs, 500 PMKKs and more than 300 JSS will be associated with IGNOU as registration centres, examination centres and work centres for hands-on training.
Through the collaboration, students will have the chance to join the three-year degree programme of IGNOU. There is a Project Steering Committee with representatives from both MSDE and IGNOU to monitor and review the progress of the programme.
The MoU is subject to renewal on mutual agreement for a period of 10 years. This MoU is in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goal 4.4 and the National Education Policy NEP 2020 for increasing Gross Enrolment Ratio GER in higher education, including vocational education to 50 per cent by the year 2035, said the ministry.
The initiative is lauded by Rajesh Aggarwal, Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and stated that India's young demographic dividend is the engine of economic progress and needs access to meaningful pathways to receive quality education as well as skill and vocational training.
He said that the initiative is aimed at providing more social and economic mobility to our youth with requisite qualifications. He said that our prime minister's vision is to fulfill the aspirations of India's youth and prepare them for the future world of work and that this initiative is aligned with it.
Aggarwal stressed that IGNOU is an establishment that strives to build an inclusive knowledge environment and that it will provide an opportunity for India's youth to build their capacities and shape their future. He said that the joint initiative would be implemented at the earliest with 32 NSTIs declared as IGNOU centres including classes on foreign language training, skill-based healthcare education, fashion designing and more.
The MoU was signed by Dr B.K., according to the ministry. Negi, Registrar, IGNOU. IGNOU's Vice-Chancellor, Nageshwar Rao, stated that IGNOU will provide all necessary support through its 21 Schools of Studies and 56 Regional Centres for the successful implementation of this scheme.
IGNOU will develop standards for quality assurance, develop counselling and trainer training programmes to facilitate students' enrollments, train staff at designated centres to handle the enrolments and counselling, and mentor the management of NSTIs, ITIs, PMKKs and JSSs, according to the ministry.