Panchkula: Over recent months, approximately 4000 students across ten government Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) have significantly enhanced their confidence and job readiness. This transformation is credited to the establishment of ten Employability Skills (ES) Labs, a collaborative initiative between the Government ITIs of Haryana and the Future Right Skills Network.
Future Right Skills Network (FRSN) is a collaborative effort by Accenture, Cisco, JP Morgan, SAP Labs India, and Quest Alliance with an overarching mission to make India’s youth future-ready. Quest Alliance and Skill Development and Industrial Training, Haryana (SDIT), have been working together since 2020. 2,613 Master Coach trade facilitators were trained during the program's initial phase. Additionally, 21st-century skills were made available to both facilitators and students via the Quest App, Trainer Tribe, and Digital Toolkit during the year. In June 2023, with the signing of the MoU with SDIT, Quest Alliance increased their reach to 152 ITIs. Placement officers, group instructors, and ES trainers taught growth mindsets and leadership development, bridging the digital divide and these initiatives are taken up by FRSN.
Sanjiv Sharma, Additional Director, SDIT, said, “We have developed our infrastructure to meet industry demands for 21st-century skills in collaboration with organizations like Quest Alliance. With the collaboration of Quest Alliance, we are preparing learners in Employability Skills for the world of work in such a comprehensive way that it seems highly unlikely that they will get rejected at any job interviews.”
Harish Krishnan, Managing Director and Chief Policy Officer, Cisco India and SAARC, said, “Today, India is among the front runners in the digital world. world, presenting a significant opportunity to create force multipliers for the development of digital skills, emphasizing digital safety among young individuals. The establishment of Employability Skills Labs by FRSN serves as a strategic initiative to propel this agenda forward. Our commitment to fostering this cause is steadfast, and we will continue to invest in the partnership with SDIT Haryana, aimed at nurturing public-private partnerships to equip the youth with the requisite skills for the jobs of the future.”
This has particularly benefited students who do not have access to smartphones or stable internet access. The Employability Skills Labs, set up between October 2023 and March 2024, is a dedicated space for students to learn and enhance employability skills through Quest Alliance's blended learning approach program. The ten ES labs set up in the ITIs located in semi-rural Haryana are bridging the digital divide and helping learners seamlessly access a repository of digital learning resources and prepare them with future-ready skills.
Speaking about the initiative, Senthil Kumar M.K., Director, Youth Program (Operations), Quest Alliance said, “The ES labs set up in each of the ten ITIs has an electronic infrastructure of 15 desktops per lab and have seen an optimal utilization by the students to learn 21st-century skills using the digital interactive learning resource supplemented by Quest Alliance.”
Students affirmed that the ease of accessing study material and a conducive learning environment augmented by a trainer have helped them understand career development in chosen and related streams. The labs will assist students with better access to technology, internet, and timely career guidance, and prepare them with future-ready skills.
“By bridging the digital divide, we ensure that every learner has equal opportunities to enhance their skills and knowledge, thereby becoming more employable. These initiatives not only democratize access to education but also cultivate a workforce equipped to excel in diverse fields, driving our nation's progress forward," Mr Kumar added.
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