Recent initiatives and updates on skill development and education

In this article, we compiled some of the recent updates and initiatives by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) and the Ministry of Education (MoE). The updates shared here have been picked up from various Press Releases (PRs) shared by both the Ministries. 

These are just some of the highlights of the recent updates. If you wish to know more, you can watch the complete compilation of updates on our YouTube channel, both in Hindi and in English. The links to both the videos are given below. 

• Creating awareness about skill development and vocational training: There is an urgent need to create awareness about skill development in India. To undertake this, the central government has partnered with the state governments to promote skilling and entrepreneurship under the Skill India Mission. NSDC has partnered with 7 countries namely Japan, UAE, Sweden, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Finland, and Morocco for cooperation in the field of vocational education.  
• NSDM envisages training a minimum of 300 million skilled people by the year 2022: National Skill Development Mission (NSDM) aims to train a minimum of 300 million skilled people by the year 2022. It was launched by MSDE to provide an overall institutional framework to scale up the skill development efforts across the country. 3,415 training centres, including 721 PMKKs are currently operating under the scheme. 
• A special program by MSDE for the skilling and upskilling of migrant workers: MSDE has launched various initiatives under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY)  scheme for the skilling and upskilling of migrant workers in the country. The PMKVY scheme has been delivered in 116 districts of 6 states. As of 10th July 2021, a total of 70,823 migrant workers have been trained as a part of the initiative. Also, a pilot online or blended mode of training has also been launched for 15 batches. 

• The synergy between New Education Policy and skill development program: National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 aims to integrate curriculum of essential subjects and schemes in a phased manner. Vocational education will be included in the curriculum from the school level. Along with vocational courses, internships will also be included. To undertake this, MSDE has initiated a Hub and Spoke model. 
• Promotion of skill development of tribal community: MSDE has been implementing schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Kaushal VikasYojana (PMKVY), Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS) Scheme, and National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS) to provide skill development training to the youth belonging to all sections of the society including tribal community. Short-term skill development courses are a major part of these schemes. MSDE and NSDC promote the establishment of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra (PMKK) for imparting skill training in every district including the tribal areas.
• PM Narendra Modi addresses the nation on NEP 2020 first anniversary: PM Narendra Modi addressed the nation on the first anniversary of NEP 2020. He also launched multiple key initiatives such as National Digital Education Architecture (NDEAR), National Education Technology Forum (NETF), first-year engineering courses in regional languages to upgrade the educational system in India. SAFAL (Structured Assessment For Analyzing Learning Levels), a competency-based assessment framework for Grades 3, 5, and 8 in CBSE schools has been launched.
• Multidisciplinary Education and Research Improvement in Technical Education: Phase three of the Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP) is going to be concluded on 30th September 2021. It was initiated by the Ministry of Education with assistance from the World Bank. Rs. 10 crores provided for “Multidisciplinary Education Research Improvement in Technical Education (MERITE)” in the recent budget 2021-22.
• Launch NISHTHA for continuous professional development of the teachers during COVID-19: The government has launched National Initiative for School Heads and Teachers (NISHTHA) for continuous professional development of the teachers during Covid. NISHTHA was launched on an online platform called DIKSHA where around 24 lakh teachers were trained by June 2021. There are built-in assessments at the end of every module and online certifications are automatically generated after the successful completion of the courses.

We hope our efforts to keep you updated on the recent initiatives from the Ministries on skill development and education were helpful. You can find regular updates on skill development, training, apprenticeship, etc. here – https://nationalskillsnetwork.in/category/news/newsdigest/