Standardising Skill Training, Imparting Digital Literacy

• 06 Sep 2018

To ensure standardisation of training and learning across all programmes, the Directorate General of Training (DGT) has aligned its courses with National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF), a competency-based framework.

• An instruction trainer manual for imparting NSQF aligned training has been launched by Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
• Aim: To create a standardised skilled workforce with high degree of horizontal and vertical mobility
• A tripartite MoU has also been signed between DGT, National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and Adobe India on skill development.

Digital literacy

Adobe Digital Disha

• The collaboration with Adobe will follow the launch of Adobe Digital Disha — a programme to impart digital literacy to over one million students and teachers across India by the year 2020.
• The programme is focused on helping vocational institutes leverage the power of a free online and mobile graphic design app "Adobe Spark" to integrate creativity and digital literacy into classrooms and curriculum.
• Adobe Spark is a storytelling Creative Cloud application that runs in any web or mobile browser.
• This will enable students to quickly express themselves via graphics, web stories and video to creatively approach their assignments as well as develop digital portfolios. Teachers can easily create digital lesson plans and tutorials using Spark applications.

UAV/ Drone Pilots

• A new course, “Unmanned aerial vehicle/drone pilot”, has also been launched to create trained people who can fly drones observing standard guidelines and carry out its maintenance.

NOTE

NSQF: The National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF) is a competency-based framework that organizes all qualifications according to a series of levels of knowledge, skills and aptitude.

• These levels, graded from one to ten, are defined in terms of learning outcomes which the learner must possess regardless of whether they are obtained through formal, non-formal or informal learning.
• The NSQF would also help shift emphasis to outcome based learning - both in the general and vocational space.
• NSDC: National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) is a not-for-profit public limited company incorporated under Companies Act, 1956 .
• NSDC was set up by Ministry of Finance as Public Private Partnership (PPP) model. The Government of India through Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) holds 49% of the share capital of NSDC, while the private sector holds 51% of the share capital.
• NSDC aims to promote skill development by catalyzing creation of large, quality and for-profit vocational institutions. NSDC acts as a catalyst in skill development by providing funding to enterprises, companies and organizations that provide skill training. It also develops appropriate models to enhance, support and coordinate private sector initiatives.

National Digital Literacy Mission (‘NDLM’) has been initiated with the vision to empower at least one person per household with crucial digital literacy skills by 2020.

• NDLM is an effort to complement government’s vision to transform one from each household as digitally literate.
• The project aims at helping adults with low technological literacy develop the skills they need to interact in an increasingly digital world.