Directorate General of Training (DGT), under the aegis of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, joined hands with two big private sector companies-Cisco and Accenture, to skill youth for the digital economy, through its Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs).
Along with the implementation partner Quest Alliance, this program will equip students enrolled in ITIs across India with skills for the digital economy over the next two years. The organizations have entered into an agreement with the DGT within the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, to roll out a comprehensive future ready employability skilling program for ITI students.
The program includes tailor-made curriculum with modules for digital literacy, career readiness, employability skills and advanced technology skills such as data analytics, and a blended learning model enabled by a combination of online self-learning via the Bharat Skills portal and in-classroom modules.
The initial phase of the in-classroom training programme is being rolled out across 227 ITIs in Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Bihar and Assam, targeting more than 1,00,000 youth.
Nearly 15,00,000 students across all the ITIs in India can access the digital learning module via the Bharat Skills portal.
The in-classroom program will deliver more than 240 hours of training to impart critical 21st century skills including digital literacy and digital fluency skills; workplace readiness skills including creative problem solving and use of data in decision making; and career management skills including the cultivation of a growth mindset and the ability to identify and plan careers.
The online module is optimized for mobile phones to enable on the-go self-learning, and the toolkit also includes train the trainer resources.
Cisco will also provide access to Networking Academy courses directly to ITI students across the country. DGT and Cisco have decided to work together for the purpose of expanding digital skills into ITI educational system across India.
The MoU was signed, in the presence of Dr. K. P Krishnan, Secretary, MSDE, by DGT’s Director General Rajesh Aggarwal, Harish Krishnan, Managing Director, Public Affairs and Strategic Engagements, Cisco India and SAARC, Kshitija Krishnaswamy, Director, Corporate Citizenship, Accenture in India and Aakash Sethi, CEO, Quest Alliance.
