SHREYAS Scheme | 28 Feb 2019

Recently the Ministry of Human Resource Development has launched the “Scheme for Higher Education Youth in Apprenticeship and Skills (SHREYAS)”.

  • The objective of scheme is to provide industry apprenticeship opportunities to the general graduates exiting in April 2019 through the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS)
  • It aims to enhance the employability of Indian youth by providing ‘on the job work exposure’ and earning of stipend.
  • The scheme is for students in degree courses, primarily non-technical, to introduce employable skills into their learning, promote apprenticeship as integral to education.
  • SHREYAS portal will enable educational institutions and industry to log in and provide their respective demand and supply of apprenticeship. The matching of students with apprenticeship avenues will take place as per pre-specified eligibility criteria.
  • These courses will be available to them from Academic year April-May, 2019. More than 40 higher educational institutions have already been tied up for taking up embedded apprenticeship courses.
  • The scheme would be operationalised by coordination of Ministry of Skills Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) and the Ministry of Labour.

National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS)

  • National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS) was launched on19th August 2016 to promote apprenticeship training and increase the engagement of apprentices.
  • NAPS has replaced Apprentice Protsahan Yojna (APY).
  • The scheme has the following two components:
    • Reimbursement of 25% of prescribed stipend subject to a maximum of Rs. 1500/- per month per apprentice by the Government of India to all employers who engage apprentices.
    • Reimbursement of cost of basic training ( upto a limit of Rs. 7500/- for a maximum of 500 hours/3 months) by the Government of India to Basic Training Providers (BTPs) in respect of apprentices who come directly for apprenticeship training without any formal training

Objectives of the Scheme

  • To improve employability of students by introducing employment relevance into the learning process of the higher education system
  • To forge a close functional link between education and industry/service sectors on a sustainable basis.
  • To provide skills which are in demand, to the students in a dynamic manner.
  • To establish an ‘earn while you learn’ system into higher education.
  • To help business/industry in securing good quality manpower.
  • To link student community with employment facilitating efforts of the Government.

Stakeholders

  • Institutions: The higher education institutions would explain the scheme along with various options to the students who are in the final year, and elicit their interest in participation.
  • Sector Skill Councils (SSCs): SSCs would identify industries for apprenticeship, and would also conduct assessment leading to certification. Whereas the certification is not a guarantee for placement, it is expected to vastly enhance a candidate’s choice of securing employment.

Sector Skill Councils

  • Sector Skill Councils are set up as autonomous industry-led bodies by National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), which are responsible for the defining the skilling needs, concept, processes, certification, and accreditation of their respective industry sectors in accordance with National Skill Qualification Framework.
  • They create Occupational Standards and Qualification bodies, develop competency framework, conduct Train the Trainer Programs, conduct skill gap studies and Assess and Certify trainees on the curriculum aligned to National Occupational Standards developed by them.
  • Ministry of Skills Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE): MSDE would not only monitor the programme, progress of the apprentices, but would finance the programme by disbursing the claims from the business enterprises towards stipend reimbursement as per the NAPS.
    • The ongoing efforts of the SSCs would be monitored by MSDE, which would also periodically introduce new SSCs into the SHREYAS fold. The entire programme would progress with dynamic interface & information sharing between MHRD and MSDE.