Government Industrial Training Institute (ITI) for Women, Mangaluru, is one among the three ITIs in the country that will be developed as Green ITIs by non-profit organisation Quest Alliance.
In fact, the Mangaluru ITI would be the first among the three to go green with the work beginning earlier this month, said a release. The pilot initiative would also be launched in two other ITIs: Government ITI, Halol, Gujarat and Government ITI, Srikona, Silchar in Assam.
Under the pilot, Quest Alliance would work with selected institutes to co-create Green ITIs to be taken up at three levels--infrastructural, cognitive and learner preparedness for green careers.
At the infrastructural level, the campuses of these ITIs will be made environment friendly with the end-objective of making them carbon-neutral. Quest would conduct a green audit of infrastructure to frame a personalised plan for each ITI. The green plan envisages rainwater harvesting, Solar power, waste management, and sustainable gardening.
Mangaluru Women’s ITI in-charge Principal S. Shivakumar said, “Our institute plans to become a green ITI and inspire students to pursue green careers. We also want to build a green mindset among students. We plan to conduct an audit of the institution and then chalk out plans of how we can make the ITI green.”
At the Cognitive level, students would be encouraged to assess challenges within their ITI campuses and build green solutions to address local issues with green mindset through a host of programmes, including hackathons, workshops, sensitisation programmes, etc.
Guest lectures and talks would provide students with insights into trends and challenges in the emerging green sector and to make them ready for green careers. They would also get career guidance, internship opportunities and placements through industry engagement initiatives.
Quest Alliance CEO Akash Sethi said while most ITI students work in traditional industries, the green industry was the emerging sector. Besides building skills, ITI students should have a mindset to navigate future career pathways to make meaningful changes in the World. “Our objective is to work with ITIs and support learners for the green industry,” he added.
