FICCI harps on rejuvenating country's ITIs

New Delhi, Apr 27 (UNI) The quality of the industrial training institutes in the country has been deteriorating in the last few years, said a survey conducted by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

The chamber said that there is a huge difference between the skills imparted in these institutes and the skills demanded in the market, said a FICCI release.

To assess the present state of affairs in the ITIs, FICCI conducted a ground level survey among 100 ITIs identified by the government to be converted into centers of excellence.

The survey results showed that, contrary to general perception, the situation with regard to physical infrastructure and availability of power supply in the country's ITIs remains comfortable. However, factors like non-availability of computerised numerically controlled machines (CNC), inadequate supplies of raw material and lack of focus on staff training and development are the key impediments in the way of strengthening these institutions.

Further, the fact that nearly 51 per cent of the participating ITIs reported underutilisation of seats, indicates that the basic industrial trades offered by these institutes are becoming increasingly unattractive for their limited scope in terms of creating job opportunities. It is also to be noted that as against 107 trades that have been notified by the government, the maximum trades which any ITI covered in the survey offered were just 38 which reflects the deficient capability of the ITIs to ramp up their scale and offer new and more market oriented courses.

The survey has also brought out the highly 'skewed' nature of the budget allocation in the country's ITIs, with nearly 77 per cent of the budget on average being allocated for salaries. The lion's share being cornered by salary expenses, when viewed in the light of the fact that nearly 89 per cent of the participating ITIs reported understaffing, point towards the mammoth task that we have at hand.

The survey, which saw participation from 69 out of a total of 100 ITIs to which the questionnaire was administered, is part of FICCI's efforts to highlight the key areas that require focused attention of both the government and the industry for strengthening the country's vocational training system.

FICCI said that up-gradation of the technical education and skills development system of the country, which is the principal provider of technicians and skilled workers, should form the core of the human resource development strategy of the government, as it would help meet the twin targets of enhancing competitiveness of the Indian industry and creation of job opportunities for the youth of the country.

Based on the survey, FICCI suggests certain steps, hinging on public private partnership model, for bringing about a qualitative improvement in the country's ITIs.

It said, the government should look into the matter of underutilisation of seats, reorient the training system and incentivise introduction of new trades having greater employment potential as this would help attract more students towards the skill imparting system of the country.

The DGE&T, Ministry of Labour should work towards ensuring better staff strength in the institutes through recruitment of instructional staff in the near future, suggested FICCI.

The government should take steps necessary to put in place an effective and vigilant monitoring system to ensure improved training offered by the institutes, it added.

FICCI has also suggested strengthening of industry-academia linkage, through industrial visits, short term courses, increase of autonomy to institutes updated syllabuses to suit industrial requirements, traing of institute instructors, offering of courses to suit the local industry, strengthening of certification norms.

UNI ARB MP PM2035