Apprenticeships improve ease of doing business: SkillConnect Roadshow in Pune

Ease of doing business has a direct relationship with the quality of talent, level of skills and competencies, as per industry standards. It is also connected with the productivity of the workforce in terms of timely delivery and consistency of output. The 16th workshop of the SkillConnect Roadshow held in Pune on 25th October 2018 discussed these points in the presence of the industry members and other stakeholders, particularly in the context of implementing National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS). The workshop was jointly organized  by National Skill Development Council (NSDC), Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), and it received enthusiastic response from the sector skill councils, training partners and the industry members.

Mr Arun Kumar, GM, Corporate Responsibilities Department, Cummins, gave the welcome address. While stressing on the need of industry engagement in skilling, he explained how the requirement of skills has been an ever-changing process and it is the responsibility of the industry to meet its skill requirements. Highlighting the support from the establishment, he appealed the participants to collaborate and force-multiply their capabilities to produce an efficient skills ecosystem.

Mr Surajit Roy, Director, Apprenticeship, NSDC, explained the reforms under the Apprenticeship Act that have incorporated most of the demands of the industry to make the apprenticeship regime industry-friendly and shared the new operational framework for Apprenticeship in India. He labelled the regime as a crucial bridge between the high demand and supply of the skilled workforce in the industry. Appreciating the helpful outcome from the previous workshops, he appealed the participants in Pune to highlight the challenges faced by them and promised them a quick follow-up.

NSDC promised to handhold the industry in designing their own courses and helping them avail the benefits of NAPS. With examples of the success in Apprenticeship witnessed by organisations like Airbus and Lemon Tree (Gurgaon), NSDC appealed the industries to hire Apprentices in their organisations and help the cause of nation building. The reforms have made apprenticeship a self-regulated scheme, enabling scrutiny of the apprentice on the shop floor for training and recruitment purposes.

Apprenticeships SkillConnect Roadshow in Pune: Presentations

R. Srinivasan, Head, Skill Development, Tata Motors, shared the experiences of Tata Motors in skill training in form of a case. He narrated the success of the Apprenticeship Training in Tata Motors with the example of 160 specialists who are hired as apprentices in the organisation. He also informed the participants about how the huge amount of NAPS reimbursement received from the Government is used to enhance the facilities at the training centres at Tata Motors.

Ms Anita Sharma, Senior Expert, Indo-German Vocational Education and Training, GIZ India, presented the experiences made thus far from the implementation of the pilots in the clusters at Bhiwadi, Bengaluru and Aurangabad. Stressing the role of private sector in skill development, she urged the participants to take up the opportunity of skilling the youth by hiring apprentices. The importance of creating awareness on skill development and training at school level was also highlighted.

The Indo-German Programme for Vocational Education and Training and the experiences made by the project in creating a systemic change by enabling industry associations to become ‘professional skill development service provider’ were shared in details. Elements of the German models of Dual VET which can be replicated in India, especially the larger focus on in-company training, training of the in-company trainers and the role of the chambers in implementing the vocational training was presented.

CII presented the organisation’s 360-degree assistance in the Indian industrial ecosystem and offered to support the industries through handholding, providing a help desk and addressing both the demand and the supply side with respect to the Apprentices by systematic identification through Model Career Centre, which have been established to overcome the limitations of the Employment Exchange.

By means of interactive session, the participants were invited to deliberate on the inputs provided by NSDC, CII and GIZ. The results of the group discussions were shared in plenary, which included the job roles which are required by the companies including the number of apprentices against each of these job roles; the support which is required for enabling the companies for effective participation in apprenticeship programme and the challenges they are currently facing were noted.

The next workshop under the Skill Connect Road Show will take place on October 26 in Mumbai.