Page 325 - economic review

297

industries for imparting practical training with a view to meeting the requirements of skilled manpower CAPACITY BUILDING
for the industry. Apprenticeship is a contract between an apprentice and an employer to provide
training in a particular skill in the establishment for a particular period and provide a stipend fixed
as per the Apprentices Act. The Central/State Govt acts as the third party in contract regulating and
monitoring the process. It was enacted with the purpose of utilizing the facilities available in industries
for skill training and certification by the National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT). Trade
Apprenticeship training in Kerala is both a Central and State Initiative. Apprenticeship schemes in
the state are implemented through Related Instruction centres in 9 districts and ITIs in the remaining
5 districts.

7.26 There are 81 trades in which seats have been located for Apprenticeship Training. 9848 seats
have been located in establishments for training under the scheme of which around 5000 seats
are utilized. Around 2000 trainees are certified every year under this scheme. Government sector
accounts for more than 50% of apprenticeship placements in the state.

Skill Development Initiative Scheme

7.27 Skill Development Initiative Scheme aims to give free training in Modular Employable Skill
courses (MES) to early school leavers and existing workers especially in an unorganized sector for
employable skills. Existing skills of person can also be tested and certified under this scheme. The
successful trainees will be issued Certificates by the National Council for Vocational Training.

7.28 The Department of Industrial Training is the authority for implementing & monitoring training
in the Skill Development Initiative Scheme in the state. There are approximately 297 Vocational
Training Providers (VTPs) in the state which are conducting the above scheme. As per the direction
of the Director General of Employment & Training,GoI, an amount of ` 27.5 per trainee for one hour
is being distributed to the VTPs. 30,394 trainees has completed training and 1731 trainees are
undergoing training as on 31-10-2014. In the year 2015-16, it is envisaged to give training to atleast
16,000 trainees under the programme.

State Institute for Staff Training and Technology Updating

7.29 State Institute for Staff Training and Technology Updating was started in 1999 at Kazhakkuttom,
Thiruvananthapuram, to update the technical knowledge of Instructional Staff and others in pace
with technical developments, Service Training Course and Principles of teaching methods are also
imparted to the instructors of both Government and Private institutions. In the year 2013-14, 913
persons were trained through STI in various courses

Kerala Academy for Skills Excellence (KASE)

7.30 KASE is a section - 25 company owned by Govt. of Kerala. Objective of the company is to
facilitate mass human resource development through specialized skill development courses across
the state. The participation of leading public and private industries is envisaged in the domains of
Construction, Retail, Finance, IT & ITES, Tourism, Hospitality etc. The main purpose of the Academy
is to spearhead the aim of creating highly skilled and safe professional workers, for all the levels of
work in the industry, through scientifically designed specialized courses for various categories of
workers. Training will be imparted to sharpen the technical skills as well as soft skills. To be at par
with international standards, the workers need to be trained in soft skills like communication skills,
language skills, safety and environment awareness etc., which is now lacking in our work force as
well as professional course students, who graduates from various colleges. It aims at imparting
theoretical as well practical training of skill sets needed for each category -from supervisory level to
working class.

Economic Review 2014