In the first meeting of the Advisory Council of the AP State Skill Development Corporation, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu suggested setting up a sector-skill council in the state on the lines of the National Sector Skill Council.
“The Sector Skill Council can be established in the state and be led by local industrialists from 42 sectors identified by the National Skills. This will help in re-skilling, up-skilling and new-skilling of people,” the Chief Minister added.
According to the Chief Minister, this will not only address the skill gap but also help us measure outcomes, productivity and improve efficiency.
The Chief Minister was informed that the Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC) is working with Siemens and has established 36 Centres of Excellence in 6 clusters in the hub-and-spoke model apart from the existing skill development centres.
The APSSDC under the chairmanship of G. Mallikarjuna Rao has the studied UP, Rajasthan, Gujarat and New Zealand models of skill development. “We have made significant inroads in IT sector and we are also moving into the manufacturing sector,” the CM was informed.
Under Electronic System Design & Manufacturing (ESDM), 15,000 students will be trained in 14 courses. The APSSDC will begin this as a pilot with 1,000 students in all districts.
In IT skill training, the Chief Minister was informed that APSSDC has inked MoUs with Nasscom in ‘Cyber security’ and Data Analytics’.
Further, the APSSDC is also working in tribal areas by utilizing Youth training centres and has signed MoUs for multi-skilling. 3,000 students will be trained in these areas by March 2016.
That apart, the APSSDC has identified 20,000 people from 29 villages of the Capital Region who will be trained in 14 sectors. The APSSDC will partner with UNDP/IKEA to train 5,000 women in 10 clusters on handicrafts.
Tata Strive, Maruti, McKinsey Social Initiative, ATDC, Tally ERP, Chicago State University, UN Women, IBM Schneider Electric, bosch and Festo are few other partners that have evnced interest in skill development in the state.
Reviewing APSSDC’s work, the Chief Minister showered praises on the ground work APSSDC has done and guided them to work on implementation strategy.
Suggesting the dire need for department-wise coordination, he said: “Departments should prepare process charts, set targets and execute projects. Only then will this have an impact.”
“Skill, scale and speed should be your focus. Not only should you address the skill gap but the APSSDC should also engage in skill forecasting based on the industry needs of the future. The APSSDC can appoint a consultant that will forecast the skill requirement across the world, in the country and locally,” he added.
The Chief Minister also suggested idetifyng placement agencies that will place trained individuals (based on their skills) in related industries. “The placement agencies should also constanty assess the success rate of such a model,” he explained.
Counselling for education and career is another major requirement. “We need people who will guide students and help them realize their interests and pursue a career path in that.”
“We need to take people to jobs instead of the routine of taking jobs to people,” he concluded.
Minister Acchan Naidu, Chairman of APSSDC G. Mallikarjuna Rao, APSSDC CEO Ganta Subbarao, director of APSSDC K. Lakshminarayana and members of the Advisory Council of APSSDC, Secretary to CM Sai Prasad and others were present. (INN)