Kerala's growth rate has consistently remained higher than the national average over most of the last two decades. This improvement was encouraged by a preceding transformation in the structure of the economy, leading to a larger service sector based economy. This is a very distinct transformation from the agrarian economy of the early 20th century. It is largely visible in the structure of employment, with over 72 per cent of the urban male workforce and 68 per cent of urban female workforce engaged in services (NSS, 2009-10). Corresponding rates for rural males and females are 57 per cent and 38 per cent respectively. However, structural transformations of the economy have not been sufficient for the large number of employment opportunities in emerging sectors. The Government aims to create a skilled and technically qualified workforce who contribute to the growth and development of both State and nation, while providing quality training to all possible people so as to reduce unemployment as well as achieve the national goal of 500 million skilled persons by 2022. Based on the population of increasing matriculates passing out in Kerala, 1.5 to 2 lakh skilled man-power per year has to be trained annually to reach the national target.
Recent years have seen improvement in Kerala's skill development regime. But the existing capacity of skill training institutions in Kerala still falls below the international standard. With the objective of skilling the young workforce of Kerala and elevating their skills to global standards for employment in India and abroad, the Government of Kerala has set up Kerala Academy for Skills Excellence (KASE), a non-profit company as the nodal agency for facilitating and coordinating various skill development initiatives of the State. Another initiative is the Additional Skill Acquisition Programme (ASAP). ASAP aims at imparting industry-specific job skills that enhance the employability of the beneficiaries through vital areas of communication. Students of higher secondary and undergraduate levels seeking immediate employment are the major stake holders of the programme. Establishment of Community Skill Parks is a notable recent initiative of ASAP. The programme aims at opening a community skill park in each legislative constituency in the State. Additional Skill Enhancement Programme (ASEP) has been developed for the students of ITIs and Registrants of Employment Exchanges. Along with this, a Modular Employable Skill Programme is also being run with the support of vocational training providers in the State.
Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY) is a centrally sponsored skill development programme implemented through National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM). The programme aims at diversifying sources of income for rural families, thereby also adding diversity to the career aspirations of rural youth. This is a programme focusing on rural youth between the ages of 15 and 35 years. Kudumbashree is the nodal agency for implementing this programme in Kerala. The scheme links up industries as training providers across different trades. Students are placed with the industries with a view to gain industrial assimilation.
Craftsman Training
Industrial Training Department implements Craftsman Training Scheme to ensure a steady flow of skilled workers in different trades to the domestic industry. There are 87 Government ITIs, one Basic Training Centre, one Staff Training Institute, Two Advanced Vocational Training Scheme, 486 private ITIs and 44 ITIs under Scheduled Caste Development Department exclusively for SC and 2 ITIs under Scheduled Tribe Development Department, exclusively for ST students functioning in the State. There are about 85 trades with allocated seats for Craftsman Training with a total seating capacity of 97,038. The details of ITIs and its trade and enrolment are given in Appendices 4.1.63, 4.1.64, 4.1.65, 4.1.66, 4.1.67, 4.1.68 and 4.1.69.
Apprenticeship Training
The Apprenticeship Training scheme is conducted as per Apprentices Act, 1961, which was enacted with the objective to regulate the programme of training of apprentices in the industry so as to conform to standard syllabi, periods of training and skill sets etc while utilising the facilities available in industries for imparting practical training. This scheme aims to meet the requirements of skilled manpower for the industry. Apprenticeship is a contract between an apprentice and an employer to provide training in a particular skill in an establishment for a particular period and also to provide a stipend stipulated as per the Apprentices Act. The Central/State Government acts as the third party in contract regulating and monitoring the process. It was enacted with the purpose of utilising 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 nine districts and ITIs in the remaining five districts.
There are 81 trades in which 10,422 seats have been allocated for Apprenticeship Training, of which around 4,328 seats are filled. Around 2,000 trainees are certified every year under this scheme. Government sector accounts for more than 50 per cent of apprenticeship placements in the State.
Skill Development Initiative Scheme
Skill Development Initiative Scheme aims to give free training in Modular Employable Skill courses (MES) to early school leavers and existing workers, especially in unorganised sectors for employable skills. Existing skills of a potential employee can also be tested and certified through this scheme. Successful trainees will be issued certificates by the National Council for Vocational Training. The Department of Industrial Training is the authority for implementing and monitoring training in the Skill Development Initiative Scheme in Kerala.
Skill Updating Institute for Staff Training (SUIIT)
Skill Updating Institute for Staff Training, Kerala was started in 1999 at Kazhakkuttom, Thiruvananthapuram to update the technical knowledge of Instructional Staff and others to keep up with technical developments. The activities of this institute include preparing course designs, researching new teaching methods, updating the skills of technical staff, soft skill training, training programmes under State Training Policy at IMG, off campus training programmes, monitoring virtual class training, coordinating Distance Learning Programme training of DGE&T.
Kerala Academy for Skills Excellence (KASE)
KASE is a Section-25 company fully owned by government of Kerala. The objective of the company is to facilitate mass human resource development through specialised skill development courses across the State. The participation of leading public and private industries is envisaged in the domains of construction, retail, finance, IT and ITES, tourism, hospitality etc. The main purpose of the academy is to spearhead the creation of highly skilled and safe professional workers, for all levels of work across the industry, through objectively designed specialisation courses for various categories of workers. Training will be imparted to sharpen both technical and soft skills. To be at par with international standards, workers need to be trained in soft skills like communication skills, language skills, safety and environment awareness etc., which are currently lacking in our work force as well as in professional course graduates passing out from various colleges. It aims at imparting both theoretical and practical training of skill sets needed for each category – from supervision to labour.