The Dual System Training (DST), an initiative of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) to enable industry to partner with the government and private ITIs for training programmes, has seen 719 MoUs signed in the last six month.
In a statement released on Friday, the Ministry hailed it a major achievement in the skilling ecosystem. It said that since the programme was revamped, more and more industries are showing their inclinations to partner with the ITIs for training the trainees and meeting the skilled manpower requirements.
“This is a huge jump from the 136 MoUs that were signed in the three years prior to the revamp. In the past few months, 37 MoUs were signed by NSTI Noida alone,” the statement said.
The DST, run under the aegis of the Ministry’s Directorate General of Training, combines theoretical training from industry partners to strengthen industry linkages and provides hands-on experience to students on industries’ latest technologies and techniques.
The revised scheme guidelines, which were issued in January 2019, ensures greater adaptability towards industry requirements and wider coverage of the ITIs.
The revised guidelines are the following:
• ITI and NSTI principals can now directly sign MoUs with Industry without interference of DGT or states.
• The eligibility criteria for industry participation has been eased where now an engineering trades industry can have a minimum of 40 employees instead of the earlier 200.
• The minimum turnover requirement has been brought down to Rs 1 crore per year for the past three years, against the earlier Rs 10 crore.
• The duration of the practical training portion of the course has also been made flexible and adaptive to the industry schedule.
• All the 138 plus courses under CTS have been brought under the ambit of DST, as against only 17 courses earlier.
• ITIs are exclusively permitted to conduct training under DST with deemed affiliation in the 3rd shift.
“We have been actively encouraging ITIs to participate in the DST program so that new ITI trainees are industry-ready. The newly revamped scheme has been so well received that we expect the impact on the overall skilling ecosystem to be significant,” Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Mahendra Nath Pandey, said.