With more than 80% engineering graduates of the six lakhs passing out every year finding no jobs, the need to improve employment quotient through skill upgradation and soft skill training assumes paramount importance.
A survey conducted by the IT Association of Andhra Pradesh reveals that less than 20% of aspiring engineers looking for opportunities in IT get openings in the software field. The ITAAP has opened a job portal not only to achieve reverse migration of experienced professionals but also getting ready to partner with the AP government for skill improvement.
With joblessness turning into a persistent phenomenon in contemporary times, the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and the AP State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC) have come out with plans in a big way to bring about remarkable improvement in the skill-set of youth to wriggle them out of the spectre of frustration.
One of the gifts to the Visakhapatnam region is the launching of the Skill Development Institute (SDI) with funds from the public sector oil companies. HPCL has majority stake of 30% in the SDI, which started its classes in September at a building taken on rent from the GVMC near the Pinnacle Hospital, Health City, with an investment of ₹6 crore on workshops for training.
The Central government has decided to set up six SDIs on a mega scale at Bhubaneswar, Visakhapatnam, Kochi, Ahmedabad, Rae Bareily and Guwahati. Three institutes besides the ones in Visakhapatnam, Bhubaneswar and Kochi have started functioning.
The SDI in the city is now conducting 15 courses, each of three month duration. It has attracted unemployed youth including those with qualified degrees, diplomas in engineering and certificate courses in Industrial Training Institutes. Five partners have been chosen for city centre viz. Don Bosco Tech, IGIAT, ILFS Skills, Smart Brain Technologies and Synchro Serve who conduct skill tests after training for offering jobs in various firms pan India.
The training, kits and lodging and boarding are provided free of cost. The interesting part of the course is that the canteen is run by a three-star hotel.
Out of two batches of students each comprising 300, 96% of those passed out have received job offers and 76% have already taken up various jobs. The average salary is ₹10,000 to ₹15,000 per month with a promising career ahead depending on their performance.
The SDI is conducting 11 regular courses as per the syllabus finalised by the NSDC and four under the Prime Minister Kaushal Vikas Yojna. For instance, 10th passed can take up advanced hands-on training-centric course in plumbing or welding. IT helpdesk assistant, for which intermediate students are eligible, is attracting a large number of engineering graduates.
For electrician course, ITI or diploma holders are eligible. Fitter fabrication course is getting an impressive response from ITI pass-outs. Diploma holders in mechanical or instrumentation are eligible for course in instrumentation. Pipe fitter — a course on completion offers a lot of opportunities in countries like Dubai, Singapore, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia — has ITI as minimum qualification but is attracting a large number of diploma holders.
The HVAC (heat ventilation air-conditioning), inventory clerk, warehousing picker and packer and the recently-introduced solar photo voltaic installer are some of the other courses which have high demand for absorbing students in the job market.
The students have to pay just ₹1,000 on enrolment.
Mega campus
The State government has agreed in-principle to allot 100 acres for the SDI at Vangali village in Sabbavaram mandal. The oil companies will be investing about ₹496 crore to make it world-class. The Indian Maritime University, Indian Institute of Petroleum Energy and the Dr. Damodaram Sanjivayya National Law University are also coming up near Vangali to make it the new education district of AP.
The DPR for the SDI complex has been prepared by the KPMG. It has been submitted to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. Once the building is ready, it will turn into an international-class university.
The new campus will offer various job-ready courses for 23,000 students per annum. The present campus is located in three acres with a built-up area of 74,500 sft. In a record span of three months from handing over of possession, HPCL, the leader equity participant, and other partners in the project, could make it functional.
