Union education minister launches digital skilling initiative for 1 crore students

NEW DELHI: Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday launched a digital skilling initiative for one crore students from Class 7 to graduation which will focus on skilling, reskilling and upskilling students via internships, apprenticeships and employment in emerging technologies.

The minister said this is the first-ever collaboration on a national scale between the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Skill and affiliated NSDCs, Skill India programs (National Educational Alliance for Technology) and AICTE. Over 100 technology, corporate and manufacturing firms have already come on board this platform to provide free-of-cost emerging technology certifications.

"The world is facing unprecedented changes and there is a need for skilling, re-skilling and up-skilling. We must make skilling a mass movement," he said. "The government is functioning as a facilitator in creating a workforce for the future as it is the right time to work with a collaborative approach between industry, academia and policy-makers. India has to cater to the workforce requirement of the world and technology will enable us to do so," Pradhan said.

Also read | Space short, MBBS students of UP medical college allege they took turns to go to class

The minister called upon tech companies to synergise technology with all Indian languages. "India has a vast potential when it comes to our human capital, especially given the strong demographic dividend. This program is to connect the right candidates with skill trainers and various courses, providing expertise on emerging technologies. It includes artificial intelligence, blockchain, big data, data analytics, cyber security, and cloud computing," he added.

Also read | NAS 2021: Class 3 to Class 8, SC, SC, OBC students steadily fall behind peers