Image Source: Oommen Chandy
Kerala Chief Minister, Oommen Chandy inaugurated “Kaushal Kendra”, India’s first community skill park, located in Chavara, around 70 km from Kollam. He is of the opinion that the students of Kerala excel in academics, but need a ‘finishing touch’ when it comes to employability; else they are dependent on government jobs.
With this aim in mind the Kerala Academy for Skills Excellence (KASE), a non-profit company, will set up community skill centers in Kozhikode, Palakkad and Kannur this year, as stated by State Labour and Skills Minister, Shibu Baby John – “This is a project to make our youth globally competitive. Usually, skill development centers are targeted towards school dropouts, but we studied skill development centers in other countries over the last four years, and built one that is a model suitable for the educated youth of Kerala.”
The other ten districts shall have Kaushal Kendras in rural areas in the next phase of the project.
With an expenditure of Rs 1.5 crore the Kendra boasts of world-class facilities to cover four fronts:
- The Assessment and Career Guidance Cell provides career counseling to rural educated youth through the best global assessment tools. Thereafter, the courses best suiting their individual socio-economic and educational profiles shall be suggested.
- Connectivity to the World e-Library via a high-end digital library provides access to digitized authenticated international content.
- Language lab designed in association with the English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad to provide proficiency in English and other foreign languages, thus giving an edge on the global platform.
- Multi Skill Centre with video conferring facility to interact with top quality industrialists and entrepreneurs. It would act as skill training facility and virtual classroom, where assessments are done and certifications provided, enabling rural youths for better employment.
India is expected to be home to a skilled workforce of 500 million by 2022. Lack of thrust on skill development or workplace abilities make our youth desperate for jobs. In such a scenario skill development becomes both a crucial engine of economic growth and a solution for unemployment in our country.
