Riaz ul Amin
With over a half of our population under 25 years of age, India can well become the muscle provider to the world provided the manpower is developed as per the global needs and demand.
The Government looks concerned about the matter of late and though there is thus the buzz of skill development (SD) in the air everywhere, the results on the ground are not encouraging enough to suggest that the skilling, as it is being carried out, is going to yield the desired results, at least in the context of Jammu & Kashmir.
Skill courses of all kinds are being conducted in J&K to improve the employability of the youth at large but such trainings as make the person sufficiently skilled only come from the regular courses of the Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs), which if conducted with some degree of ingenuity can churn out world class the manpower that could find takers anywhere.
To develop our ITIs into premier institutions, the shortcomings in the system need to be addressed to. Having served Skill Development Department in different capacities during my service career and having been directly associated with policy and planning in the department, the following suggestions are desired to be considered, to improve the lot of the ITIs.
Quality Improvement of Trainers
Good trainers are of paramount importance for improving the training quality in the ITIs. An instructor can be good if he is skilful, efficient and dedicated and while we have many good ones, many need gross improvement to become genuine trainers. All have as well to be abreast with the latest techniques in their fields.
Advance Training Institutes (ATIs) have been established for the quality improvement of the ITI Instructors in the country. The institutes conduct short-term courses and also modular courses as per need. The facilities unfortunately are not being availed of by J&K in a big way, which is what is just needed to be done. QIPs through the ATIs can be the cheapest and most specific courses for ITI Instructors. Besides ATIs, need-based QIPs can also be arranged through premium skill development institutes in the semi-government and private sector and through in-house training.
Further, in order to take our training standards to the next level, there is a need to depute the Instructors for trainings overseas so that they pick up modern practices and cultivate the globally in-demand skills back home.
Trainings imparted in the ITIs.
The ITIs in J&K are conducting following kinds of Trades (courses):
i. Trades affiliated with the National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT).
ii. Trades deemed as allowed by State Council for Vocational Training (SCVT).
iii. Short term/ Need-based courses.
Each of the above categories of Trades is faced with issues that need to be resolved to improve the efficiency and the quality of trainings in the ITIs.
Trades affiliated with NCVT
a. Admission Process
Admissions in ITIs are being made on academic merit, without any consideration for the aptitude for skills as it used to be there earlier. Trainees with higher academic merit usually drop out during the course of the training and most of the seats are left unutilized at the end. With the admission process now getting online and time-bound, even more seats are likely to go un-availed unless corrective measures are taken now.
Rules and regulations for ITIs are laid down by NCVT, which is therefore to be requested to remodel the admission process and re-prioritize the aptitude for skills for the admissions. A more scientific method needs to be put in place for assessing the applicants and a system on the lines, perhaps stands formulated by some pioneers in the field, who can be associated with for the development of a working system for the purpose.
At our level till then we can start the admission process much earlier so that we have more time to complete the process. Some pre-counseling of the applicants can also be done so that ones with aptitude for skills and are listed out in advance, who can be then be readily admitted.
b. Re-organization of Trades.
As per NCVT norms there are to be two units of a Trade in an ITI, for which there have to be two Instructors, one with Diploma in Engineering for conducting the theory and the other with ATI for conducting practicals.
In J&K, there being a thin rural population it is not feasible to run two units at all places. In order to meet the technical requirements, it would be in the fitness of things to re-do the distribution of Trades and have two units of a Trade in any ITI instead of one. There will be a saving of infrastructure thus, which can be gainfully utilized in other ways.
Trades under the banner of SCVT
A massive affiliation process was carried out between 1996 and 2001, as a result of which all the Trades then functioning in the ITIs except for the ones with acute infrastructural deficiencies, were affiliated with NCVT. The more in-demand of the left out Trades were conducted in the state sector, with the anticipated approval of the SCVT. The process has continued since even after the deficiencies in the Trades were met. Affiliation has not been sought from NCVT nor has SCVT been approached ever and nobody seems to be concerned about the legalities of the matter.
The matter needs to be attended on priority.
Short-term/Need based Courses.
Varied short term courses are conducted by ITIs using both the regular and guest faculty for the purpose. The courses are usually conducted during normal working hours, adversely affecting the regular trainings of the institutions.
It is important that all such trainings that do not fall under the Craftsmen Training Scheme be conducted only before or after the usual training hours so that the regular programmes of the ITIs do not suffer.
General Suggestions
The following general suggestions may also be considered:
i. The two oldest Polytechnics at Srinagar and Jammu are sufficiently well equipped by now to function as regular Engineering colleges. A request in this regard was informally made to the AICTE in the past but since there were very few Polytechnics back then, the matter was not agreed to. Now, with twenty more Polytechnics there and just one Government Engineering College in the UT, the proposal is very likely to be accepted.
A request needs to be put to AICTE, for conversion of Kashmir Govt. Polytechnic, Srinagar and Government Polytechnic, Jammu as Engineering Colleges, to give the much needed flip to engineering education in J&K.
ii. In view of the on-going thrust on skill development (SD), there is a need to add to the existing SD capacity in the UT. The added capacity can come by way of adding more ITIs and/or by boosting the capacity of existing institutions.
With the establishment of Polytechnics in every district, a capacity has been created that exceeds the demand for diploma level trainings.
In order to gainfully utilize the available infrastructure of the Polytechnics some of the in-demand ITI courses as well as the modular courses be introduced in selected Polytechnics in the UT. Simultaneously, the Community Polytechnic scheme of the polytechnics needs to be either made more effective by way of weightier certification or it may be clubbed with some appropriate scheme of the Ministry of Skill Development so that the pass-outs of these courses have a better certification at the end.
iii. Besides ensuring the conduct of trainings as per NCVT regulations, SCVTs are tasked to devise and conduct local need based courses but there is little of activity undertaken by SCVT in J&K. The SCVT needs to get vibrant and there is a need to have a technical cum advisory sub-committee of the SCVT, which will frame policies and advise the council.
iv. A powerful body viz. The J&K State Technical Education Council (TEC) – under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister was constituted in 2005. The same has, however, never met, marring the very purpose of its creation. The body needs to be reconstituted and activated.
v. Besides the above, there are several issues like updating of the recruitment rules, long pending regularizations and rationalization of manpower etc in the Skill Development Department which directly affect its working. The same need to be addressed too, to increase the potency and efficacy of the department in turning around the employment scenario in Jammu & Kashmir.
(The author has been a Deputy Director in the Skill Development Department, J&K.)
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