Life has never been easy for 21 year-old Sonu Singh. With a paralysed father and home-maker mother, a job to support both his family and himself has always been a priority.
The Class XII pass-out used his CGPA of 7.8 in Class X exams to enrol at one of the Delhi government’s 18 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) to train as an electrician. Two years and Rs.2,400 later, Sonu now makes Rs.15,000 per month after getting campus placement.
Interacting with students at the city’s oldest ITI, nestled between monuments at Nizamuddin’s Arab ki Sarai, there are many such stories of hope, passion and sincerity, with students aiming to take maximum advantage of the market-driven job-creating institute.
The Delhi government recently took steps to revive ITIs with help from the industry to provide job-ready students, many of whom have been trained by companies that have tied up with the institute to absorb the cream of lot.
Tie-ups
The ITIs, which offer courses in 45 different trades and have 9,242 seats, have partnered with companies including Tata Motors, Toyota, Maruti Suzuki India Limited, Samsung India Limited, Sheela Foam, Tata Power, Daikin, IGL and Siemens.
Manoj Kumar, Director, Department of Training and Technical Education, Delhi government, said the endeavour to revive ITIs is though collaboration with industry and the focus is more on practical knowledge rather than theory so that students are not hired as trainees after the course.
Industrial visits
“Earlier, we used to approach the industry to recruit our students. Now with help from trade associations and financial help coming in from CSR activities by corporates, the industry has started approaching us to employ students and partner with us for training them,” said Mr. Kumar.
The ITIs also organise industrial visits and provide training in soft skills and etiquette so that the students are ready for all possible challenges during their career.
Ajay Vashisht, principal, ITI Arab ki Sarai, said a recent push to develop skill-development centres brought a new vigour to the ITIs. He added that real change will come when there is a change in the social status of people working as technicians in our country.
“Abroad, there is a lot of worth given to technical staff. In India, that is not the case. That is why we have started branding our institutes and one of our students who has become a successful entrepreneur has also become a brand ambassador to show the potential that picking up a skill at an ITI has.”
Minimum qualification
Those seeking entry into the two-year engineering trades at ITIs must be Class X pass. The minimum qualification for one-year non-engineering trades is Class VIII.
