OSEM, NSDA organise ‘Consultative Focus Group Discussion’ in Bhubaneswar
Bhubaneswar, Oct 19: Odisha State Employment Mission with the support of National Skill Development Agency organized a “Consultative Focus Group Discussion” on Saturday on National Skill Qualification Frame Work (NSQF) for all the major Departments conducting the Skill Development training programmes. The basic objective of the programme is to align skill development training programmes conducted in the State by different Departments and general education to NSQF.
Shri. L.N. Gupta, Principal Secretary to Government, SD&TE Department emphasized the need for alignment of general education with vocational education as per NSQF at the earliest as after December 2016, the Government funding would not be available to the training programmes / courses that are not NSQF complaint. He also stressed the need for assessment and Recognition (RPL) of Prior Learning of the artisans, who through sheer experience have earned skill of their own.
He advised the OSEM to form a Core Team by drawing Nodal Officers from different departments for coordination and implementation of all the activities related to NSQF. The Core Team would be responsible for scheduling and listing out all the state specific qualifications, filling up of qualification files, laisoning with OSEM.
OSEM had roped in the technical support of National Skill Development Agency, an autonomous body under Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. The NSDA team led by Ms. Pangkhuri Borgohain, Consultant, National Skill Development Agency, Mr. Basab Banerjee, Team Leader, KPMG, ADB-TA team, Ms. Sneha Joseph, Consultant, KPMG, ADB-TA team, Mr. Anurag Gupta, KPMG, ADB-TA detailed on the roll out plans for the NSQF.
National Skills Qualification Framework is a quality assurance framework that organizes qualifications as per level of competencies. The Government of India notified it on 27th December, 2013. The notification provides that all the courses/training programmes under Central and State Governments have to be NSQF complaint. Till date, 1461 qualifications have been aligned to NSQF that includes 1345 qualifications of Sector Skill Councils and 116 NCVT qualifications. The other concepts and activities of NSDA were also briefed to the participants viz., Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), accreditation norms for training providers, quality assurance framework and Labour Market Information System.
The ADB TA team of NSDA explained the details of filling up of qualification file. The key terms like qualification title, body awarding qualification, proposed NSQF level, progression form the qualification, assessment strategy, evidence of level and need, estimated uptake, etc were explained in details to the participants.
The Mission Director, OSEM Shri G. Rajesh emphasized that the Departments need to list out the qualifications primarily dealt by them and the core team would work on the filing of qualification files. The departments were requested to submit the list of courses that are being implemented by 30.10.15.
Director level officers and senior officials of the major Departments namely Panchayati Raj Department, H&UD, Agriculture, F&ARD, Handloom & Textiles, ST&SC, Commerce and Transport, Tourism and Culture, DTE&T, SCTE&VT, BPUT, School & Mass Education and Higher Education Department attended the meeting.