The Additional Skill Acquisition Programme (ASAP) has brought about a positive change in schools and colleges in the State in the past three years, Minister for Education P.K. Abdu Rabb has said.
He was speaking ahead of inaugurating Seek’15 (Skill Enterprise Engagement for Empowering Kerala), a two-day meet organised by ASAP, an initiative of the departments of Higher Education and General Education in the State, here on Wednesday.
Pivotal role
The summit, Mr. Rabb said, would play a pivotal role in the development of a skill policy for the State.
The Minister said he always heard from policymakers about how the skill gap was affecting the ability to remain competitive. In Kerala, unemployment was swelling despite the presence of a rich talent pool.
To counter this, ASAP had been developed to impart sector-specific skills to create a pool of youth ready for the job market.
New challenges
With time, new challenges such as formulating operation guidelines for the proposed community skills parks, clearer understanding of integration of the skill process with university curriculum, and encouraging entrepreneurial leadership were emerging, the Minister said.
Delivering the keynote address, State Planning Board vice-chairman K.M. Chandrasekhar said a mechanism for skill development was in place in the State but many gaps remained to be filled.
Emphasising close coordination with the industry, he said if its needs were not kept in the mind, the programme would die.
Focus should not be on numbers, but on quality, Mr. Chandrasekhar said. Targets should relate to what people needed. There was also need for constant evaluation, he said. ASAP should foster confidence building and entrepreneurship and respect for blue-collar jobs, he said.
He also called for bringing all aspects related to skill development under one umbrella.
B. Srinivas, Secretary, Higher Education; V.S. Senthil, Additional Chief Secretary, General Education; and M.T. Reju, CEO, ASAP, were present on the occasion.
He was speaking ahead of inaugurating Seek’15 (Skill Enterprise Engagement for Empowering Kerala), a two-day meet organised by ASAP, an initiative of the departments of Higher Education and General Education in the State, here on Wednesday.
Pivotal role
The summit, Mr. Rabb said, would play a pivotal role in the development of a skill policy for the State.
The Minister said he always heard from policymakers about how the skill gap was affecting the ability to remain competitive. In Kerala, unemployment was swelling despite the presence of a rich talent pool.
To counter this, ASAP had been developed to impart sector-specific skills to create a pool of youth ready for the job market.
New challenges
With time, new challenges such as formulating operation guidelines for the proposed community skills parks, clearer understanding of integration of the skill process with university curriculum, and encouraging entrepreneurial leadership were emerging, the Minister said.
Delivering the keynote address, State Planning Board vice-chairman K.M. Chandrasekhar said a mechanism for skill development was in place in the State but many gaps remained to be filled.
Emphasising close coordination with the industry, he said if its needs were not kept in the mind, the programme would die.
Focus should not be on numbers, but on quality, Mr. Chandrasekhar said. Targets should relate to what people needed. There was also need for constant evaluation, he said. ASAP should foster confidence building and entrepreneurship and respect for blue-collar jobs, he said.
He also called for bringing all aspects related to skill development under one umbrella.
B. Srinivas, Secretary, Higher Education; V.S. Senthil, Additional Chief Secretary, General Education; and M.T. Reju, CEO, ASAP, were present on the occasion.
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