India could become a global investment destination if more and more students succeeded in their career in the financial sector. The sector requires half-a-million skilled and semi-skilled workforce, but the number that is being offered to the market is much less, said Sunitha Anand, Lead-SBU Education and Head Administration (South), National Stock Exchange of India Ltd, (NSE) Chennai, here on Monday.
In order to set right this, and as part of efforts to enhance financial literacy among school and college students, NSE had inked memoranda of understanding with the Governments of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
Financial tools“In Tamil Nadu, the programme covered students from Standard VIII to make them aware at a preliminary level of various financial tools available, before introducing them to secondary markets and investment destinations. Nearly 7.5 lakh students and 2,000 faculty members from the Government and aided schools have been trained,” she said.
Taking a cue from Tamil Nadu, the Kerala Government had also sought NSE’s assistance in launching a programme for higher secondary students and those at the UG level. Ms. Anand was in Coimbatore for the launch of a Trading Lab at PSG Institute of Management.
She urged the students of the PSG Group of Institutions to make career choices in finance rather than confining themselves to conventional jobs.
She said globalisation had impacted the Indian markets too and a career in finance would open up opportunities for them to become leaders in their chosen field.
On the employment potential of the NSE Certified Capital Market Professional (NCCMP) course at a time when many brokerages were down sizing staff strength due to sluggish business, she said this happened because brokerages were opting for merger / restructuring.
“But the market has not shrunk but was ‘up and going’. Students may not have job potential directly with brokerages, but they will do so as investment bankers, research analysts and business strategists. With global investors coming in, the market would get bigger, and there will be no dearth of employability,” Ms. Anand added.
R. Nandagopal, director, PSGIM, said the trading lab, sponsored by All India Council for Technical Education, would provide the students real time trading experience, with technical support from NSE. L. Gopalakrishnan, managing trustee, PSG Institutions, inaugurated the Lab.
