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Karnataka
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Madurai
Tiruchirapalli
Vijayawada
Visakhapatnam
‘Adopt an ITI’: Industries can change the face of labour
PRISCILLA JEBARAJ
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Will the ITIs in the state stand to gain in terms of current curriculum, specialised courses, industrial exposure and improved quality? With sustained effort they could produce sufficient trained labour to meet the increasing demand
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Photo: Mohammed Arif
the cutting edge: The Industrial Training Institutes need courses that are closely linked to current areas of economic activity.
Much of Tamil Nadu’s rising reputation as an industrial power to be reckoned with comes from the State’s educational system and the relatively large pool of skilled labour. This refers as much to the system of polytechnics, Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and centres and vocational training schools, which train the workers who form the cogs of the State’s industrial machinery, as to the many engineering colleges and universities.
Certainly, the numbers seem impressive at first glance. The State’s 59 government-run ITIs train over 19,000 people annually. Affiliated private Industrial Training Centres supplement that, with 605 ITCs sending another 56,000 odd people into the skill pool every year.
A recent study conducted ICRA Management Consulting Services found that that the skill gaps in graduates from these institutions are caused by the lack of currency in the curriculum, the absence of specialised courses, and the lack of exposure to reasonably current equipment, tools and manufacturing, production and delivery processes.
“ITIs still have outdated syllabi with courses like blacksmithy and carpentry. What we really need are people trained in industrial welding, CNC machines and advanced welding. They also need much better training infrastructure,” says K. Gopalakrishnan, general secretary of the Tamil Nadu Small and Tiny Industries Association.
Industry is now being given its chance to make a difference to the training offered in government ITIs. According to a scheme announced in this year’s budget, 1396 ITIs will be upgraded into Centres of Excellence in specific industry-relevent trades and skills under the adopt-an-ITI scheme, a public-private partnership project. Under the scheme, the State Government, as the owner of the ITI, will continue to regulate admission and fees; the industry who is adopting the ITI will be given academic and financial autonomy to manage the institution and the Central Government will provide financial assistance by way of seed money. On October 25, the Central Cabinet approved the implementation of the scheme for the first batch of 300 ITIs at a cost of Rs. 774 crore. Each adopting industry will be given an interest-free loan of Rs 2.5 crore to upgrade and revise courses. The scheme aims at providing demand-driven training, leading to better employability of ITI graduates. The Tamil Nadu government has identified 12 ITIs and adopting industry associations for the first phase of the scheme. A senior department official said that the list has been sent for approval to the central government.
In Tamil Nadu, government ITIs already have Institute Management Committees, which are chaired by local industry players. It is these chairmen who have now been selected for the adopt-an-ITI scheme. “All those involved so far are the small, local industries. We tried contacting some of the larger nationwide players like Ashok Leyland and the Tatas, but they were not very interested,” claimed the official.He said the IMCs would be converted into registered societies. The Rs 2.5 crore allotted to each beneficiary of the scheme would then be put into the society’s bank account. “The money can be used for upgradation of machinery or new buildings. The industry players will have power to change the curriculum, be involved in the admission selection process, as well as in placement and internship. That will give actual guaranteed industry exposure to the trainees,” he said.
The official added that the adopting industries could earn additional resources for the ITI by taking on actual industry projects to be implemented by the students and conducting production-oriented schemes. They could also run short-term courses and even accept donations. The money earned would be used for the welfare of the ITI, he said.
Information Technology Secretary C. Chandramouli says that the scheme would be particularly helpful for niche skills; an industry requiring such skills would be able to institute a tailor-made training programme at a local ITI without having to get widespread approval to change the overall ITI curriculum. The industries would also have to agree to absorb all or a set percentage of graduates from such a course, he said. The 12 adopted ITIs under the new management will start accepting students from the 2008-09 academic year. Another 17 ITIs will benefit from the scheme in the next academic year, according to the official.
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Education Plus
Karnataka
Chennai
Coimbatore
Hyderabad
Madurai
Tiruchirapalli
Vijayawada
Visakhapatnam
|
