WB govt plans to impart vocational training among school drop-outs; aims to train 6 lakh students

New Delhi, July 2 (KNN) Concerning about the issue of employability of students in West Bengal, the state government is planning to impart vocational training to school drop outs under Utkarsh Bangla Scheme.

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.

It was said during the workshop organized by the Department of Technical Education, Training and Skill Development (TET & SD), Government of West Bengal, in collaboration with the Bengal Chamber.

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 discussed ways and means of ensuring that the skilling initiatives made by government of West Bengal to address the employability challenges met the target.

One of the key concerns discussed at the workshop was that even though a large number of students pass out from the engineering colleges but only few were able to meet the industry requirements because of lack of proper training and skills.

Rajesh Agarwal from the Ministry for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) was the key speaker at the first session that dealt with the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS).

He spoke about the benefits of NAPS and its aim to empower students passing out with engineering and diploma degrees with specific skills to improve their chance of getting employed by various industries.

Various schemes under the Pashchim Banga Society for Skill Development (PBSSD) were also highlighted during the first session.

At the second session of workshop Ambarish Dasgupta, past president of the Bengal Chamber discussed industry demand and the challenges of providing placement to the new graduates.

Speakers during the interactive session highlighted the challenges that industry faces 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, Associate General Manager Appliances Services East Godrej Appliances, Godrej & Boyce Mfg.Co.Ltd spoke about the Godrej Vocational Training School collaborating with George Telegraph Training Institute to offer skill- specific programs for students.

Varun Bagla, Director of Saltee Group 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.