Skill Hub Centre

THE BACKGROUND: Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) is the flagship scheme of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) implemented by National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC). The objective of this Skill Certification scheme is to enable Indian youth to take up industry relevant skill training that will help them in securing a better livelihood. Individuals with prior experience are also assessed and certified under recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)..

PMKVY 3.0: With an aim to empower country‘s youth and continue the journey of Skill India Mission in building India as the skill capital of the world, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) launched the third phase of its flagship scheme — Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY 3.0) on 15 January 2021. PMKVY 3.0 will encourage and promote skill development throughout the country to address industry needs, meet market demands and impart skills in services and in new-age job roles that have become crucial with the advent of COVID-19 pandemic. Incorporating the learnings from PMKVY 1.0 and PMKVY 2.0, PMKVY 3.0 will be implemented in a more decentralised structure with greater responsibilities and support from States/UTs and Districts. District Skill Committees (DSCs), under the guidance of State Skill Development Missions (SSDM), shall play a key role in addressing the skill gap and assessing demand at the district level. The new scheme will be more trainee and learner centric addressing the ambitions of Atmanirbhar Bharat. The scheme aims to benefit over eight (08) lakh candidates in FY 2020-2021 with a budget of INR 948.90 crores while targeting the youth under the age group of 15-45 years. The scheme will have two components — Central Component to be implemented by National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), Directorate General of Training (DGT) and other agencies of the Central Ministries and the State Component to be implemented by State Skill Development Missions (SSDMs)/respective Departments of the States/UTs.

Skill training will be imparted under three categories, pan-India:
1. Short Term Training (STT)
2. Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)
3. Special Project (SP)

The focus of PMKVY 3.0 (2020-21) has been shifted from supply-based approach to demand-based approach. In the wake of disruption caused by COVID-19 and resultant impact on livelihood, the scheme (PMKVY 3.0) will give major focus on upskilling/reskilling with a focus on future skills (industry 4.0) courses to increase productivity of existing workforce and provide online/digital mode of training for wider coverage.

Skill Hub Initiative: Knowledge and skills are the driving forces for social development and economic growth for any country. As there is demand-supply mismatch, the economy needs more ‘skilled‘ workforce than in the availability of it. In the school and higher education sphere, knowledge and skills are required for diverse forms of employment in all the industry sectors and other services. By realizing the importance and the necessity for developing skills among students, National Education Policy 2020 emphasised on mainstreaming vocational education and to enable removal of academic silos, a Credit based framework to ensure vertical and horizontal pathways for students and creating work-ready human capital. Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) in consultation with Ministry of Education (MoE) has planned to implement the ‘Skill Hub Initiative‘ under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 3.0 (PMKVY 3.0). Scheme aims to facilitate and make education more relevant and create industry fit skilled workforce.

The ‘Skill Hub Initiative‘ under the PMKVY 3.0 scheme shall focus on the introduction of skill training programmes in the education ecosystems. Initiative shall consider the policy level synergy on integration of vocational education with general education as envisioned in the ‘National Education Polic 2020‘. The effort shall supplement the objectives of ‘National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, 2015‘.

As envisioned in the Guidelines of the PMKVY 3.0, for creation of state-of-the-art and sustainable skill Training Centres, phase-wise introduction of vocational
courses in school curriculum in coordination with Ministry of Education (MoE) is the need of the hour. This can be accomplished through technical support,
greater cross utilization of available infrastructure from Universities/ Colleges/ Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs)/ Polytechnics/ Schools, strengthening of
District Skill Committees (DSCs), State Skill Development Missions (SSDMs)/ State Directorate of Technical Education along with handholding, strategic and funding support.

In view of the above, successful integration of skilling with education will require support and synergy from every stakeholder(s) such as MoE, MSDE, other central Ministries/Departments, SSDMs, DSCs, Sector Skill Councils (SSCs), School boards and other key players like Schools, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs), Polytechnics, Training Providers (TPs). The ‘Skill Hub Initiative‘ shall be implemented under Central component of PMKVY 3.0 through National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and support of State Education Department/Agencies. The implementation of the initiative shall ensure broad-based convergence of vocational education with formal education in a phased manner to achieve outcomes with speed and standard.

What is Skill Hub?
Skill Hubs are nodal skill centres identified to provide skill development and vocational training opportunities to target population segments from class 6-8th
(introduction to world-of-work through orientation, industry visits, bag-less days), 9th to 12th (aimed at exposing students to skill development avenues), school dropouts and out-of-education (aimed for academic credit, mainstreaming back to education and or apprenticeship and employment linkages).

Over a period of time these Skill Hubs will associate with adjoining education and skilling institutions (spokes) over a district, or a cluster of adjacent districts, to provide access to skill development training at hub location or at spoke location. Such adjoining institutions in the vicinity of the Skill Hub may leverage the
infrastructure and resources available at the associated Hub for their In-school, drop-outs and out-of-education candidates in the 15-29 age cohort.
In the initial phase, 5,000 such skill hubs will be identified in the country from across the education and skill ecosystems. Skill Hubs will be co-opted from the vocational system and education system with participation from MSDE (ITI, PMKK, PMKVY Center, Fee based Center), MoE (Department of School Education & Literacy-DoSEL and Department of Higher Education-DoHE), Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).

Any entity from the below mentioned category will be selected as a Skill Hub depending on the available capacity and/ or previous experience of imparting
vocational courses:

• Schools (Government, and Private)
• Higher Education Institutions (Engineering, Technical and General
• Institutions including institutions offering Language courses)
•  Polytechnics
•  Government Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs)
•  Other Govt Skilling Institutions like RSETI, NIELIT, etc.
•  Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras (PMKKs)
•  Corporate Skill Institutions/ Industry Bodies.
•  Institutions under Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS) Scheme Institutes under Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME)

Programme Objectives: The ‘Skill Hubs Initiative‘ under PMKVY 3.0 aims at creating shared infrastructure, aligning with the needs of the local economy, and addressing the needs of all target segments for vocational training. It is also expected that existing resources in education and skilling system can be put to optimum usage by utilization for skilling beyond normal working hours and during weekends. The scheme is aimed at the following:
a. Provision of permanent vocational infrastructure and resources for skilling;
b. To ensure contiguous availability of skilling centre’s for ease of candidates;
c. Align the vocational offerings at all levels with overall economic and local economy needs;
d. Introduce vocational learning at an early stage with multiple well-defined pathways for candidates to continue with their chosen vocations;
e. Provide vocational offerings for target segments including in-school, dropouts and out-of-education candidates;

Expected Programme Outcome: The expected programme outcome of the two offered courses vis-à-vis – ‘Technician – Paper Bag Manufacturing (SGJ/Q8701)‘ and ‘CCTV Installation – Technician (ELE/Q4605)‘ have the following expected outcome:
a. To impart skill based training among school dropouts;
b. To develop the competencies of the learners;
c. To produce the trained human resource in the field of Paper Bag Manufacturing and CCTV Installation; and
d. To fulfill the need of required employability skills among the learners.

Programme Objectives: The ‘Skill Hubs Initiative‘ under PMKVY 3.0 aims at creating shared infrastructure, aligning with the needs of the local economy, and addressing the needs of all target segments for vocational training. It is also expected that existing resources in education and skilling system can be put to optimum usage by utilization for skilling beyond normal working hours and during weekends. The scheme is aimed at the following:
a. Provision of permanent vocational infrastructure and resources for skilling;
b. To ensure contiguous availability of skilling centre’s for ease of candidates;
c. Align the vocational offerings at all levels with overall economic and local economy needs;
d. Introduce vocational learning at an early stage with multiple well-defined pathways for candidates to continue with their chosen vocations;
e. Provide vocational offerings for target segments including in-school, dropouts and out-of-education candidates;

Expected Programme Outcome: The expected programme outcome of the two offered courses vis-à-vis – ‘Technician – Paper Bag Manufacturing (SGJ/Q8701)‘ and ‘CCTV Installation – Technician (ELE/Q4605)‘ have the following expected outcome:
a. To impart skill based training among school dropouts;
b. To develop the competencies of the learners;
c. To produce the trained human resource in the field of Paper Bag Manufacturing and CCTV Installation; and
d. To fulfill the need of required employability skills among the learners.

• A Trans-Disciplinary National Youth Conclave 2020