West Bengal government to impart vocational training to school dropouts
Kolkata, July 1 (IBNS): With rising concern over the employability of Indian students, especially those graduating from engineering colleges, a 'Sensitization Workshop for the CXOs' was recently organised in Kolkata.
(A chief experience officer or CXO is an individual primarily responsible for maintaining good interactions between a brand and its customer base.)
The workshop was organised by the Department of Technical Education, Training and Skill Development (TET & SD), Government of West Bengal, in collaboration with The Bengal Chamber, largely to understand the issues concerning the employability of the students of the state.
The workshop was a platform where the industry stalwarts -- who understand the industry demand -- and training providers -- who understand the supply challenges and skill availability -- discuss ways and means of ensuring that the skilling initiatives made by Government of West Bengal to address the employability challenges met the target.
Purnendu Basu, Minister-in-Charge, Technical Education and Training and Skill Development, presided over the inaugural session.
Roshni Sen, IAS, Principal Secretary, TET & SD and Subhodip Ghosh, Director General, The Bengal Chamber, were also present.
One of the key concerns discussed at the workshop was that even though a large number of students pass out from the engineering colleges, few meet the requirements of the recruiting companies because they lack proper training.
Rajesh Agarwal, IAS, from the Central government's Ministry for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE), was the key speaker at the first session that dealt with the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS).
Agarwal spoke about the benefits of NAPS and its aim to empower students passing out with engineering and diploma degrees with specific skills tod improve their chance of getting employed by various industries.
Various schemes under the Pashchim Banga Society for Skill Development (PBSSD) was also highlighted during the first session.
It was said that the state government's Utkarsh Bangla Scheme aims to provide vocational training to school dropouts and expects to train six lakh candidates in 2018-2019.
Ambarish Dasgupta, past president, The Bengal Chamber, moderated the second session that discussed industry demand and the challenges of providing placement to the new graduates.
Speakers at the second session included Debkumar Basu, Chairperson Manufacturing & MSME Committee, The Bengal Chamber & Director- Zetadel Technologies Private Limted; Deepak Nagar, Associate General Manager Appliances Services East Godrej Appliances, Godrej & Boyce Mfg.Co.Ltd.; Ashok Mukherjee, Managing Director Sonodyne International and Varun Bagla, Director Saltee Group.
Most of the speakers highlighted the challenges they face while employing engineering students from colleges; they not only lack adequate practical skills but sometimes also appear unfamiliar with basic terminologies, they said.
During his talk, Deepak Nagar spoke about the Godrej Vocational Training School collaborating with George Telegraph Training Institute to offer skill- specific programs for students.
Varun Bagla, said that industry training should be mandated by engineering colleges so that the students have more practical training and are better equipped for industry-wise placements.
(Reporting by Tirna Chatterjee)
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