Amar Patikond
KURLA, JULY 24, 2008: The Modular Employability Skills (MES) programme initiated by the Government is aimed at providing Vocational Training to school leavers, existing workers, ITI graduates and others, so as to improve their employability, while optimally utilizing the infrastructure available in Government or Private Institutions and the Industry. Existing skills of the persons can also be tested and certified under this scheme. MES benefits different target groups like those seeking certification of their skill acquired informally, those workers and ITI graduates seeking skill up-gradation, those who have dropped out of school and are unemployed or those who have earlier worked as child labourers. For the first time St. Joseph’s ITI took the initiative to train and assess MES candidates. 116 students underwent this training and appeared for the assessment in the following trades: Basic Automobile Servicing, Two Wheeler Repairs, Electrical House Wiring, Information and Communication Technology Computer Fundamentals, MS Office and Internet, Basic Refrigeration and Air-conditioning, Production and Manufacturing Turning, Fabrication Arc welding. The assessment was carried out by a panel of 5 officials from the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in collaboration with City and Guilds, Pune. The day long assessment programme which began at 10.00 am, ended only at 8.00 pm and was possible because of the committed and sustained efforts of the entire Staff and Management of St. Joseph’s, Kurla. Incidentally, St. Joseph’s is the first institute in Maharashtra to collaborate with the Government in carrying out the training and assessment programme for MES candidates