At a digital conclave organised by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, 41 skilled trainers were virtually presented the Kaushalacharya Awards 2021 for their exemplary contribution to the skill ecosystem.
These 41 trainers are from several initiatives and training programmes of Skill India — Directorate General of Training, Apprenticeship, Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS) and Entrepreneurship.
The awards were presented by Union Education and Skill Development Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Pradhan said, “Our skill trainers have to play a crucial role in realizing the vision of the Prime Minister of making India, the skill capital of the world.”
He urged trainers to work towards making skills more aspirational and called for a deep dive into the future of jobs and understand the skill demand of the future. The minister favoured a bottom-up approach with a focus on innovative ways to “upskill our trainers, and plan skill development at the grassroots.”
Mr Pradhan stressed that the NEP had called for convergence of education and skills and the Government was working on providing academic equivalence to skills and creating a robust integrated ecosystem. He said that new business and skilling models were evolving which would play an important role in the post-pandemic world. With the paradigm of ‘Padhai and Kamai’, we must leverage this opportunity to empower our youth, he added.
The Minister also said that PM Modi had given a clarion call for Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayaas. This should be our spirit in all efforts as we move towards completing 100 years of India’s independence, he added.
Trainers were honoured for their contribution under various categories.
Five trainers were awarded under the categories of PMKVY Trainer and Excellence in PMKVY Master Trainer.
Nine received the award under JSS and two trainers were rewarded for their contribution to entrepreneurship.
In addition, five candidates received awards under the apprenticeship category and two trainers were awarded from DGT in the non-engineering category.
Two awardees were felicitated in the engineering category. Industrial Training Institutes, the pillars of India’s vocational training ecosystem, had as many as 11 trainers who were felicitated.