Poor awareness has resulted in poor response to courses offered by the National Skill Training Institute (Women) functioning at the Government Industrial Training Institute campus in Tiruverumbur in the city.
The first one of its kind in Tamil Nadu, the NSTI has 53 students though it can take in up to 120 students. “The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship provides up to ₹1.5 crore for development of the institution but we are not able to make full use of it as the number of students is limited,” said Arul Selvi, Principal, NSTI(W)
Established in 2015, the institute offers five courses - Electronics Mechanic, Secretarial Practice (English), Fashion Design and Technology, Smart Phone Technician and the newly introduced Internet of Things Smart City. Apart from the Electronics Mechanic course which has a course duration of two years, the other four are one-year courses. There is no upper age limit and students who have passed Class X can apply. The fees comes up to a total of ₹ 2000 for the entire year, said Ramesh Babu, Vice-Principal.
Women in Tiruchi might be hesitant to do electrical and repair work, said Mr. Babu. “We get enquiries and applications from women from north India but here women do not seem to be interested.”
NSTI(W) ensures a hundred per cent placement, said Ms. Selvi. The Department of Skill Training has made it mandatory for the students to undergo a three-month on-the-job training. “We are in touch with Bharat Heavy Electricals, smartphone service centres and other manufacturing companies for training and placements. IBM is going to train and employ students in a course called Networking and Cloud Computing.” BHEL is looking to train women part of the Secretarial Practice (English) course. They will soon be signing a Memorandum of Understanding regarding the same, she added.
However, short-term courses offered by the NSTI(W) have more takers. As many as 36 courses, ranging from terracotta jewellery making to aari and zardozi work and Microsoft Office and Programming in C have a total of about 1800 students since its inception. “These courses, may be because of short duration, have more takers. These courses too do not have any upper age limit and cost only ₹300. Outside, some of these courses can cost up to ₹ 12,000,” said Mr. Babu.
New course
The NSTI (W) has introduced a new course - Internet of Things Smart City to encourage women to take part in development of cities. The syllabus includes smart environment, smart street lighting systems, smart power management, smart road and traffic management, smart parking and smart water and waste management. “Automation of these aspects are a key part of the Smart City Project and training the girls would ensure their involvement in the project,” says Ms. Selvi.
The course will introduce embedded programming, electronic devices and their integration in circuits to students which could be applicable in the IT field. “We are in talks with Tiruchi Corporation to allow our students to do their on-the-job training. This is a good time too as the Smart City plan of Tiruchi is under way.
The one-year course costs ₹ 2000. Students who have passed Class X and are over the age of 15 can apply. There is no upper age limit. This course will help girls get jobs in software companies and electronics manufacturers.
