New Delhi: April 14 : Department of Skill Development and Technical Education Department (SD&TE) in collaboration with Asian Development Bank conducted a Business Opportunity Seminar (BOS) on 12th April, 2014 at New Delhi, to take a feedback from prospective bidders for the Odisha Skill Development Project (OSDP).
The BOS was inaugurated by L.N. Gupta, IAS, Principal Secretary, SD&TE. Gupta stressed on the need for bringing in quality improvement in the ITI and technical finishing skills through the state of art ASTIs planned to be established in Odisha. He also emphasized the Government of Odisha’s commitment in creating conducive ecosystem for skilling landscape in Odisha.
Rajesh Gopalan, IFS, Chief Executive Officer, Odisha Skill Development Project(OSDP) made a presentation on OSDP structure and core elements followed by technical presentations by ADB consultants on model for engaging public/private sector training providers for operating ASTIs as per quality norms prescribed by OSDS and design build contracts for construction of 6 ASTIs. Shamit Chatterjee, Programme Coordinator and Vikram Harsha, Team Leader from ADB along with other technical experts attended the seminar.
OSDP envisages to train 2,00,000 youths in higher finishing skills in next five years through the Hub and Spoke model of project implementation. This would include 1,20,000 from the new 8 ASTIs, which would function as “Hubs”, and 50,000 from the ITIs identified as “spokes”, 25,000 under the Recognition of Prior Learning(RPL) and 5,000 under Entrepreneurship support.
OSDP is Rs.1051 crore project with Rs. 660 crore ADB loan and Rs. 390 crore financing by Government of Odisha.
Under OSDP it is proposed to establish 8 Advanced Skill Training Institutes (ASTIs) under 2 models (i) Model A – For 6 ASTIs (Bhubaneswar (with extension center at Cuttack), Berhampur, Jharsuguda, Bolangir, Rourkela and Jeypore). Government will invest in land, building and equipment and engage a private/public sector training provider to operate the ASTIs under a 8 year contract and (ii) Model B – For 2 ASTIs proposed to be located in Angul and Balasore regions, the private/public sector training provider will invest in land and building and the Government will invest in equipment and the private/public sector training provider will operate the 2 ASTIs under a 8 year contract.
Majority of the training by ASTIs will focus on skilling Odisha youth in high end manufacturing and services sector related training in 12 identified ‘priority’ sectors covering about 150 trades. OSDP will also finance quality assurance, international collaborations, training of trainers, etc. One of the important roles of ASTIs would be mentoring the ITIs in teacher training, finishing skills for ITI students, placement support, etc which is expected to strengthen the performance of the ITIs.
The seminar was attended by representatives of New Zealand, Australian, Canadian and German Embassies. The representatives of the Embassies appreciated the project design and expressed their upfront willingness to explore the collaboration of International training partners in the project.
Besides the officials of Embassies the seminar was also attended by Indian and international training providers and design build contractors viz., Skill Sonics India Private Limited, Centum Learning, Manipal City and Guilds Pvt Ltd, GIZ International Services, Australian Vocational Training and Education Group, NTTF, IIPM, (Kansbhal), Don Bosco, Tech Ma, Festo, DIDATIC, Team Lease, B – ABLE, KIIT, ILFS India, Centurion University, Association of UK Colleges, Shaporji Palomji, LEA Associates, B seenaiah and Company Ltd (BSCPL), etc., The participants expressed confidence on the concept and structure of the project and suggested valuable inputs for framing strategies for project and implementation.
