~ MoU is aimed at collaboration and program management support for Community colleges and various Skil Development initiatives of Additional Skill Acquisition programme (ASAP), Government of Kerala in order to improve employability of students in Kerala through vocational and other educational training programs ~
~ Wadhwani Foundation to enable widespread adoption of vocational education by leveraging technology such as online training platforms that maintain quality and relevance and are integrated with classroom and workshop training ~
~ Improved employability of the students graduating and reduction in number of dropouts will be measured by enhanced employment of the students leaving college for work ~
~ Over 2700 students are expected to be trained in Community College in the first year under this program ~
~ Collaboration and support is aimed to catalyse Government of India’s broad policies and new initiatives on skill development and entrepreneurship ~
Thiruvananthapuram, 16th December, 2015: A ASAP, o Department of Higher Education (DHE), o Government of Kerala (GOK) e a Wadhwani Foundation anunciaram uma parceria estratégica que visa melhorar a empregabilidade dos estudantes em Kerala por meio de programas de treinamento vocacional e outros programas educacionais, apoiando o programa Additional Skill Acquisition e as Community Colleges no estado. Entre os signatários autorizados estavam o Dr. Reju M.T., CEO da ASAP, e Austin Thomas, EVP da Wadhwani Foundation.
A Fundação Wadhwani apoiará a iniciativa de Desenvolvimento de Habilidades do Departamento de Ensino Superior, incluindo a iniciativa do Programa de Aquisição de Habilidades Adicionais (ASAP), que está trabalhando para conectar o aprendizado e os meios de subsistência em um modelo que aborda questões críticas que afetam a qualidade de vida e o futuro dos alunos, tanto nas escolas quanto no ensino superior.
As principais áreas dessa colaboração entre a Wadhwani Foundation e a ASP incluem a introdução e a integração bem-sucedidas de habilidades no ensino superior para os alunos matriculados em faculdades comunitárias e no programa ASAP, assistência e aconselhamento sobre o desenvolvimento de currículos e diretrizes de avaliação de acordo com os Padrões Ocupacionais Nacionais criados pelos SSCs ou pelo setor local e para garantir o alinhamento do currículo de acordo com o Pacote de Qualificação (QP) da função de trabalho especificada, desenvolver estratégias para ampliar e sustentar os novos cursos e construir capacidade, apoiar o desenvolvimento do Community Skills Park - o exclusivo modelo PPP Skill Development Center e fornecer mais de 1.000 horas de módulos on-line e de e-learning desenvolvidos pela Skills Development Network [SDN] da Wadhwani Foundation.
It is estimated that India will have 25% of the world’s total workforce by about 2025. However, in order to harness the full demographic dividend, India needs an education system which is of high quality, affordable, flexible and relevant to both the individuals and society as a whole.
Commenting on this strategic partnership with Govt. of Kerala, Austin Thomas, Executive Vice President, Wadhwani Foundation said, “Wadhwani Foundation’s Skills Develop Network [SDN] is supporting Government’s skilling initiatives by doing program management and providing technical support with an aim to maximize job creation efforts. Foundation also supports Skilling initiatives through multi-media enabled technology solutions for maximising job creation. Despite having immense potential, Kerala urgently needs skilled work force. With this partnership, we have an opportunity to work towards providing skills integrated with secondary & higher education to improve employability of students in Kerala. These vocational and other educational training programs are highly employable and entrepreneurial in nature. The Foundation’s new partnership with Department of Higher Education, Govt. of Kerala will go a long way towards strengthening the business ecosystem of Kerala, ultimately providing a foundation for rebuilding its economy.”
The community colleges aim to mainstream skills into higher education by providing 6 -24 months duration programs, thereby enhancing vertical mobility for students graduating from class XII and aspiring to pursue a degree program SDN helped in drafting a community college scheme with MHRD/UGC and hosted a committee of state education ministers to U.S Community Colleges. This led to a MHRD funded pilot of 200 Community Colleges in 2012-13. UGC has also funded 267 Community Colleges and 127Colleges for B.Voc. SDN is currently supporting 20 community colleges across Bihar, Himachal Pradesh and Jharkhand.
Wadhwani Foundation aims to accelerate India’s economy through five high-impact initiatives, one of which is developing a skilled workforce to meet the demands of economic growth via education. The objective of the Skills Development Network (SDN) is to help overcome skills deficit of India’s mid-level, white-collared, knowledge workers by promoting industry-driven short-cycle education.
Government of Kerala on its own initiative has embarked upon an ambitious project named State Skill Development Project to equip its young population with skills in cutting edge sectors in order to effectively alleviate the unemployment problem in the state. The project combines both preventive (Additional Skill Acquisition Programme – ASAP) and curative approaches (Additional Skill Enhancement Programme). On the preventive side, the General and Higher Education Departments together are implementing the Additional Skill Acquisition Programme (ASAP) to amplify working hands in different sectors of the economy, by providing additional skill sets to students along with their regular courses.