Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Delhi University (DU) have joined hands to provide professional skills to college students and address the skill shortages faced by the Indian industry.
“The partnership is aimed at providing industry endorsed professional skills through a six-month certification programme at Keshavpuram under the aegis of School of Open Learning and DU, which will largely enhance their skills as they prepare to launch their careers”, a CII release said. There would be separate courses on IT and automotives. More than 200 students have applied for the professional skills project, an MoU for which was also signed between CII and DU in March.
“The objective of this partnership between industry and academia is to bridge the demand-supply gap for skilled workforce,” the chamber said. The course curriculum has been developed in consultation with industry and would be delivered using methodologies, including case studies, interaction with domain experts, case simulation and a two-month internship programme with industry.
“Several industry verticals are largely hampered due to non-availability of skilled workforce. Though the university system provides firm knowledge foundation to students, it is also necessary to impart functional skills that are productive and respond to global demand of 40 million skilled work force,” said chairman Vijay Thadani, CII National Committee on Education.
“The university sector sees enrollment of more than 10.4 million students each year, where graduates from general stream outnumber those with professional qualifications either due to lack of capacity to get enrolled in professional courses or inability to find work post higher education. Only five per cent of the Indian working population in the age group of 20-24 has vocational skills,” he said.
