Odisha Skill Development Project To Train 2 Lakh Youth

BHUBANESWAR: Department of Skill Development and Technical Education Department (SD&TE) in collaboration with Asian Development Bank conducted a Business Opportunity Seminar (BOS) at New Delhi on Tuesday to take feedback from prospective bidders for the Odisha Skill Development Project (OSDP).

Inaugurating the seminar, SD&TE secretary L.N. Gupta stressed on the need for bringing in quality improvement in the ITI and technical finishing skills through the state of art ASTIs planned to be established in Odisha.

He also emphasised the Odisha government’s commitment to creating a conducive ecosystem for the skilling landscape in Odisha.

 Rajesh Gopalan, Chief Executive Officer of OSDP, made a presentation on OSDP structure and core elements followed by technical presentations by ADB consultants on the model for engaging public/private sector training providers for operating ASTIs as per quality norms prescribed by OSDS and design-build contracts for construction of 6 ASTIs.

OSDP envisages to train 2,00,000 youths in higher finishing skills in next five years through the Hub and Spoke model of project implementation.  This would include 1,20,000 from the new 8 ASTIs, which would function as “Hubs”, and 50,000 from the ITIs identified as “spokes”, 25,000 under the Recognition of Prior Learning(RPL) and 5,000 under Entrepreneurship support.
OSDP is Rs.1051 crore project with Rs. 660 crore ADB loan and Rs. 390 crore financing by Government of Odisha.

Under OSDP, it is proposed to establish 8 Advanced Skill Training Institutes (ASTIs) under two models.  Model A – For 6 ASTIs at Bhubaneswar with extension centre at Cuttack), Berhampur, Jharsuguda, Bolangir, Rourkela and Jeypore.

The state government will invest in land, building and equipment while engaging a private/public sector training provider in operating the ASTIs under an 8-year contract.

Model B – For 2 ASTIs proposed to be located in Angul and Balasore regions, the private/public sector training provider will invest in land and building, and the government will invest in equipment, and the private/public sector training provider will operate the 2 ASTIs under an 8-year contract.

The majority of the training by ASTIs will focus on skilling Odisha youth in high-end manufacturing and services sector related training in 12 identified ‘priority’ areas covering about 150 trades.  OSDP will also finance quality assurance, international collaborations, training of trainers, etc.

One of the important roles of ASTIs would be mentoring the ITIs in teacher training, finishing skills for ITI students, placement support, etc. which is expected to strengthen the performance of the ITIs.

The seminar was attended by representatives of New Zealand, Australian, Canadian and German Embassies.  The representatives of the Embassies appreciated the project design and expressed their upfront willingness to explore the collaboration of International training partners in the project.