Bhubaneswar, Nov 24 (UNI) Union Minister for Education and Skill Development Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday laid the foundation stone for National Skill Training Institutes (NSTI) Plus at Jatni on the outskirts of the city.
Constructed on a 7.8-acre of land, NSTI Plus will not only accommodate institutions like National Institute of Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development (NIESBUD), National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and Skill India International Centre (SIIC), but also emerge as a potential hub for diverse skill development activities.
NSTI Plus will also serve as a nucleus for emerging start-ups, an incubation centre, and a versatile hub for cultivating various skills. It also has the potential to serve as a prototype training facility for other states.
NSTI Plus has potential to unlock horizon of opportunities to instil soft skills, impart hands-on-training on new technologies and foster effective learning environment.
NSTI Plus, under the Directorate General of Training (DGT), an apex organization of the Ministry of Skill will train 500 instructors in Phase-1 under the Craftsmen Instructor Training Scheme (CITS) and will further incorporate another 500 instructors for upskilling and reskilling.
Speaking on the occasion, Pradhan said NSTI will emerge as a modern gurukul to equip candidates as well as trainers with industry and future-ready skills.
He said he is confident that the upcoming state-of-the-art integrated campus of NSTI will empower the youth of New India by providing them with cutting-edge skills and knowledge required to excel in the 21st century, encourage entrepreneurship, equip master trainers with expertise aligned with current and future industry demands and help realize the vision of Viksit Bharat”.
Currently, there are 524 ITIs in the region with seating capacity of 1,04,134, and institutions with flexible learning models like NSTI Plus will advance the vocational training framework to be more accessible, inclusive and innovate in its embodiment, he said.
NSTIs will also take on the role of capacity-building centers for educators in schools. The selection of courses and training programs will be meticulously designed in association with industries to meet the needs of the local community. To fuel further growth, collaborative efforts will be made to develop an integrated 4.0 campus for entrepreneurs with modern new-age skills.
By offering specialized training programs, the mega-hub institute unlocks the potential of youth across diverse domains; including Engineers, supervisors, technicians, executives, and faculty members of educational institutions that caters to the needs of both national and international markets.
On the completion of the training, the Ministry will provide certificates to students in collaboration with IGNOU, NIOS and NIESBUD to propel vertical and horizontal mobility of the candidates.
Skill Development & Technical Education Minister Pritiranjan Gharai, Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi, Rajya Sabha MP Muzibulla Khan, MLA Suresh Kumar Routray, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE); Chairman T G Sitharam, MSDE Secretary Atul Kumar Tiwari, and Trishaljit Sethi, Director General, DGT Trishaljit Sethi, graced the event.
