Press release from Business Wire India
Source: Manipal Education
Tuesday, September 15, 2009 07:30 PM IST (02:00 PM GMT)
Editors: General: Consumer interest; Business: Advertising, PR & marketing, Business services, Education & training, Media & entertainment
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Manipal Education and City & Guilds Join Forces to Launch IndiaSkills
Will Provide World Class Skills that Open the Doors to Employment!
New Delhi, Delhi, India, Tuesday, September 15, 2009 -- (Business Wire India) -- -- Shri Harish Rawat, Hon. MoS for Labour & Employment, Govt of India, launches IndiaSkills at a press conference in Delhi
-- IndiaSkills will provide qualifications across a wide range of industries; these qualifications will be relevant in the Indian context and delivered in the local language
-- IndiaSkills' training & certification will be backed by City & Guilds, an institution recognised globally by industry, and will make our youth skilled and job ready resulting in employment in India and overseas
-- IndiaSkills training and qualification will be affordable and accessible to all - providing for all levels of literacy, both in rural & urban areas. IndiaSkills will aim to deliver its training, assessment and certification across 500 Vocational Training Centres covering close to 50% of India's districts targeting 1 million learners over the next 5 years
-- IndiaSkills will tie-in closely with industry and ensure that the training and qualifications will be relevant to employers giving them instant access to "certified" rightly skilled workforce thus enhancing their productivity
Manipal Education, a pioneer & the largest higher education provider in India, and City & Guilds, UK's largest provider of work-related assessment & qualifications, today announced the formation of a joint venture - Manipal City & Guilds Skills Training Pvt Ltd, with 51% held by Manipal Education and 49% by City & Guilds. This pioneering new venture will provide its offerings under the name "IndiaSkills".
IndiaSkills - which has been set up with the aim of redefining the way skills education and training is delivered in India - will enable students to obtain skills-based qualifications in a wide range of industries, starting with retail, hospitality, banking, and English language training. The joint venture will also provide graduates with job placements at companies which require 'work-ready' staff, enhancing their career prospects, while creating the opportunity for enterprises to increase their productivity through a trained workforce.
Speaking at the launch today Shri. Harish Rawat said "I am happy to see that institutions such as Manipal Education & City & Guilds are in the forefront of closing out gaps in the system. One of the biggest challenges our nation faces today is the mismatch between the available skills and the required skills in terms of quantity, quality & relevance. In order to sustain the high rate of economic growth through inclusive growth, and also for socio-economic upliftment of our people, we need to pay serious attention to skill development in our country with an eye on emerging skills. With proper skills development strategy our youth can realise their potential to be a great national asset".
IndiaSkills Vocational Training Centres will begin opening in October across India. To ensure the highest quality teaching and assessment standards, the centres will enter into an operating agreement to deliver training according to benchmarks laid down in conjunction with City & Guilds.
The innovative business model - which forges a direct link between skills training and industry demand - has been described by Anand Sudarshan, MD & CEO, Manipal Education as "what learners, employers, training providers and the government have been demanding".
He elaborated saying "In addition to industry-standard qualifications, prospective students are looking for a strong link to employment, affordable prices, flexibility and additional services such as learner and tutor support. In recent times we have seen an increasing requirement for formal assessment and certification of skills against international benchmarks and an increasing acceptance on the part of employers of the value of qualification. IndiaSkills takes the best elements of the two parent companies and has created a unique model that will provide a sustainable solution that will respond in real time India's vast skills needs."
City & Guilds which has a portfolio of over 650 qualifications over 28 industry sectors, will provide the core curriculum for the content of the courses. Manipal Education will provide support on the ground to deliver the work-based training schemes while leveraging its existing links with employers in India to help ensure newly qualified students obtain employment in India's rapidly growing economy. IndiaSkills will work closely with the industry to make sure that the repurposed core curriculum and content are relevant to India's needs.
Chris Jones, Director - General, City & Guilds, stressed that IndiaSkills will localise business processes & systems to create qualifications and assessment systems designed to match the needs of India's very specific regional and sectoral market requirements. These will be directly relevant to employers in India but benchmarked against standard worldwide. He emphasized "India's economy has the potential for huge growth if it harnesses the capacity of its large and growing labour force, especially when the rest of the world is expecting to face a skills shortage due to an ageing workforce. As the competitive job market becomes more and more global, the demand for certification and quality assured training is becoming increasingly important - employers & learners need a referenced point, which will be IndiaSkills".
The establishment of IndiaSkills responds to the government's vision to skill 500 million people to meet the challenges of Independent India @ 75 by 2022. Over the next 5 years, IndiaSkills aims to deliver training, assessment and certification across 500 Vocational Training Centres covering close to 50% of India's districts targeting 1 million learners.
About Manipal Education
Manipal Education is a pioneering and leading academic & education services provider in India. With over 50 years of steadfast focus in the field of Education, the group provides education services across all genres. The group's presence includes 3 universities - Manipal University, Sikkim Manipal University, and American University of Antigua - and over 30 institutions in India, besides colleges & campuses in Antigua, Dubai, Malaysia & Nepal.
In addition to formal university programmes delivered through 5 campuses in India & 4 overseas, Manipal Education also has a range of education offerings in Distance Education, Professional & Skills Education across multiple genres, as well as industry leading partnerships such as the ICICI Manipal Academy for Banking (in association with ICICI Bank).
Manipal Education has strategic investments in emerging companies, including U21Global - the world's premier online graduate school based out of Singapore, and MeritTrac - India's Largest Skills Assessment & Testing Company.
About City & Guilds
City & Guilds is the expert and leading authority in work-based education and training both in the UK and worldwide. Founded in the City of London in 1878, City & Guilds provides qualifications for 1.6 million learners in 81 countries every year. The UK's leading work-based education institution awards qualifications in a variety of industry areas across various standards of excellence. City & Guilds qualifications act as a benchmark for skills globally and are widely recognised and well-respected, enabling learners to use their qualifications wherever they travel to.
CONTACT DETAILS
Priya Manikkath, Manager - Public Relations, Manipal Education, +91 9845090010, priya.manikkath@manipalu.com
Pravin S, Integrated brand-comm Pvt. Ltd., +91 9886964909, pravin@brand-comm.com
KEYWORDS
CONSUMER, MARKETING, BUSINESS SERVICES, EDUCATION, MEDIA
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