Union Education and Skill Development Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan along with Union Minister of Railways, Communication, Electronics & Information Technology Shri Ashwini Vaishnav and Governor of Tamil Nadu Shri R. N. Ravi today reviewed the preparations of the upcoming Kashi Tamil Sangamam. Minister of State for Education Shri Subhas Sarkar, senior officials of Ministry of Education, Ministry of Railways, officials of Government of Uttar Pradesh attended the meeting.
The Ministers discussed several logistical issues related to the smooth organisation of the program. Ministers called for taking all efforts to ensure superlative experience for the participants of Kashi Tamil Sangamam.
The month-long ‘Kashi Tamil Sangamam’ programme will be organised in Varanasi from November 17th to December 16th to rediscover the centuries-old bond of knowledge and ancient civilisational linkage between Kashi and Tamil Nadu. As part of the program, academic exchanges – seminars, discussions etc will be held between experts/ scholars on various facets of the two ancient manifestations of Indian Culture, with focus on bringing out the links and shared values between the two. The broader objective is to bring the two knowledge and cultural traditions closer, create and understanding of our shared heritage and deepen the people-to-people bond between the regions.
Union Minister of Education and Minister of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Shri Dharmendra Pradhan launched the draft of National Credit Framework (NCrF) for public consultation here today.
MoS, Education, Smt Annpurna Devi; MoS, Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Electronics & IT, Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar; Smt Anita Karwal; Secretary, Higher Education Shri Sanjay Murthy; Secretary, Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Shri Atul Kumar Tiwari; Chairman, NCVET; Shri Dr. Nirmaljeet Singh Kalsi and senior officials of the Education and Skill Development Ministry attended the programme.
Taking the vision of the new National Education Policy (NEP) as envisioned under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, the Government of India has developed the National Credit Framework (NCrF) to enable the integration of academic and vocational domains to ensure flexibility and mobility between the two. NCrF would be a game changer by opening numerous options for further progression of students and inter-mingling of school and higher education with vocational education and experiential learning, thus mainstreaming skilling and vocational education. NCrFwill also enable students who have dropped out of the mainstream education to re-enter the education ecosystem.
Speaking on the occasion Shri Pradhan said that Jan-bhagidari is a key pillar of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s governance and NEP 2020 also embodies the spirit of Jan-bhagidari. He said that National Credit Framework is a next generation, multidimensional instrument under NEP. We are dedicating NCrF for ‘Jan-paramarsh’ for making it more dynamic. Shri Pradhan further said that National Credit Framework is an umbrella framework for skilling, re-skilling, up-skilling, accreditation & evaluation encompassing our people in educational & skilling institutions and workforce.
Shri Pradhan stressed that we have to make India a $5 trillion economy, accomplish the vision of a Vikasit Bharat in the next 25 years and empower 100% of our population and National Credit Framework will be the most important instrument under NEP for realising these goals.India is adopting technology at an unprecedented pace. We have to bring reforms to incentivise knowledge, skills & experience.Credits for knowledge acquisition, hands-on training, positive social outcomes will be a key step for achieving 100% literacy in the next 2-3 years, he added.
The Minister appealed to all institutions, schools, ITIs, AICTE-affiliated engineering colleges, centrally-funded HEIs, state universities and regulatory authorities/bodies to host the public consultation for National Credit Framework on their website for seeking suggestions from citizens.
The Committee constituted by the Government with members from UGC, AICTE, NCVET, NIOS, CBSE, NCERT, Department of School Education and Literacy & Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, DGT, and Ministry of Skill Development under the guidance of Union Minister of Education and Minister of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, the inclusive umbrella framework aims to make the options for Multiple Entry-Multiple Exit accessible and applicable across the higher education, school education and vocational education, allowing students to choose their own learning trajectories and programmes.
NCrF will seamlessly integrate the credits earned through school education, higher education and vocational and skill education by encompassing the National Higher Education Qualification Framework (NHEQF), National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF) and National School Education Qualification Framework (NSEQF). It also supports educational acceleration for students with gifted learning abilities and Recognition of Prior Learning for the workforce that has acquired knowledge and skills informally through the traditional family inheritance, work experience or other methods.
The Government has now invited comments and observations on the document which can be sent on: comments.ncrf[at]gmail[dot]com.
Proposed benefits for various stakeholders are as follows:
Students: NCrF will ensure Flexibility in the duration of study/ courses through provisions of multiple entries and exit/work options as well as pave the path for creditisation of all learning hours, including academic, vocational and experiential learning. It will also give the provision for lifelong learning – any time anywhere learning: It will also help students by:
Establishing multidisciplinary and holistic education with flexible curricula
Removing the hard distinction between the education stream and making study choices respectful, allowing for more than one award in the same period
Removing the distinction between arts, science, social sciences, commerce, etc
Giving student credits for every academic/ skill/ experience
Enhancing the scope of core learning to include foundational and cognitive both
2. Institutions: NCrF will bring about a unification of higher education institutions to promote multidisciplinary education, creating a diverse and rich students knowledge base. It will also help in:
Promoting stronger collaboration between institutions
Making credit mechanism simpler and uniform
Increasing focus on research and innovation
Promoting digital learning, blended learning, and open distance learning
Leveraging the institutional infrastructure
3. Government: NCrF is expected to assist the government to increase the enrolment of students, helping to fulfil the national vision of complementing the demographic dividend and transforming India into the Skill Capital of the World. It will also:
Making vocational education and training/ skilling aspirational
Highly educated and trained workforce for Aatmnirbhar Bharat
4. Industry: NCrF will allow students to attain NSQF-approved foundational skills developed by industry and be more employable. The provision of micro-credentials will allow integration of quick educational upgradation/ up-skilling It will also help in:
Re-Skilling and up-skilling of existing employees/ engineers
Making students more employable by enabling a more holistic design of the study
Creating a multi/ cross-sectoral skilled pool of employable youth
Minister of Education and Skill Development Shri Dharmendra Pradhan today launched the SCALE (Skill Certification Assessment for Leather Employees) app which provides a one-stop solution for the skilling, learning, assessment, and employment needs of the leather industry, during a visit to CSIR-Central Leather Research Institute, Chennai. Leather Skill Sector Council developed Android App SCALE to change the way skill development programs are designed and delivered to the trainees in leather industry.The SCALE studio App developed by Leather SSC allows people from all age groups interested in leather craft to access online live streamed classes from the state-of-the-art studio at its office.
While speaking on the occasion, Shri Pradhan said that the leather sector plays a major role in generating large-scale employment in the country with over 44 lakh people currently working. He lauded the role of CSIR-CLRI for playing an important role in the development of this sector with a perfect blend of academics and skill development.
Shri Pradhan also spoke about the changes happening in the sector due to advent of digital technologies and environment friendly techniques, and said that this calls for a renewed impetus on skilling, re-skilling and up-skilling and drive capacity building. He said that NSDC and CSIR-CLRI will work together for addressing the skilling needs of this sector and suggested a national level capacity building program be held at CSIR-CLRI for augmenting the capacities of professionals working in this sector. He also said that the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, NSDC, CLRI and Leather Sector Skill Council will collaborate to set up Common Facility and Skilling Centre across India, including Chennai.
Shri Pradhan called upon young professionals in this sector to leverage technology, innovation, entrepreneurship to become job-creators. They must handhold craftsmen to connect them to opportunities available in the digital space including e-commerce, he further added.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Murugan said that Tamil Nadu has plenty of talented human resources and CLRI is playing a major role in skilling them. CLRI is also promoting entrepreneurship among the youth and is aiding in the setting up of many startup companies. This will enable in realizing our national goals during the on-going Amrit Kaal leading to 100 years of Indian Independence, he added.
Union Education and Skill Development Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan held a bilateral meeting with HE Dr. Bonginkosi Emmanuel “Blade” NZIMANDE, Minister of Higher Education, Science & Innovation, Republic of South Africa, in Bali, Indonesia, today.
The Ministers had fruitful discussions on strengthening the academic & skill development partnerships and bilateral education cooperation.
The Ministers agreed to develop institutional mechanisms for tie-ups between HEIs & skill institutions, mutual recognition of skill qualifications & capacity building in skill development.
They also decided to set up a Joint Working Group on Education between two countries to further extend the cooperation that already exists and also to realise the full potential of bilateral cooperation in education.
Shri Pradhan said that the Introduction of NEP has paved the way for the internationalisation of Indian education.
Shri Pradhan added that India and South Africa relations are close and friendly and is rooted in shared values and interests.
Shri Pradhan thanked HE Dr NZIMANDE for his keenness to deepen our engagements in education & skill development and for his support to India’s presidency in furthering the G20 EdWG agenda.
Shri Pradhan also visited the Gusti Bagus Sugriwa University in Bali, Indonesia. Minister Pradhan said that the University is a reflection of the pluralistic ethos of Indonesia and a celebration of common roots, identity and deep cultural connect between Indonesia and India.
He explored opportunities for institutional linkages with HEIs in India and academic collaboration in the field of Sanskrit language, Philosophy, Ayurveda and Yoga.
He also said that strong academic collaborations and student exchange between Sugriwa University & Indian HEIs will pave the way for broadening the understanding of Hinduism and the shared spiritual, cultural & economic ties.
Shri Dharmendra Pradhan also visited the International Institute of Tourism and Business (Institute Pariwisata dan Bisnis International) in Bali.
He had an overview of the training facilities, skilling programs, credit frameworks, pathways to student mobility and future plans among others.
He said that collaborations in skilling will encourage toursimpreneurship, help build capacities in emerging areas of travel, tourism, hospitality & business and boost people-to-people linkages.
Union Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan on a four-day visit to Australian to strengthen Indo-Austalian ties and to explore the connect, collaborate and cooperate aspect in education and skill development.
In his statement prior to the Departure, Shri Pradhan said that reforms in India’s education sector and the renewed vigour in India-Australia bilateral relations opens up immense opportunities for both sides to establish the knowledge economy as a key pillar of our cooperation. He expressed his confidence that the tour will add momentum to our unity of purpose, help build trans-national knowledge bridges, further broaden our engagements at all levels in all areas of learning, skilling, research, innovation and entrepreneurship and deepen people-to-people connect.
During his 4-day visit, on 21st August, the Minister will interact with the Indian diaspora. Next day, Shri Pradhan will be visiting Western Sydney University (WSU) to co-chair the 6th meeting of the Australia India Education Council with Australian Counterpart Ms. Jason Clare. Along with HE Sarah Mitchell MLC, NSW Minister for Education, Shri Pradhan will be visiting a school. He will also visit TAFE NSF and The University of New South Wales (UNSW) based in Sydney, where he will be interacting with the Vice-Chancellors and senior representatives of the Australian Government ,Department of Education.
On 23rd August, 2022, the Minister will be visiting the Kangan Institute and Deakin University in Melbourne. He will be meeting academicians and leaders of the Australian education and skilling ecosystem and vibrant Indian diaspora residing in Melbourne. Shri Pradhan will also be holding a virtual bilateral meeting with HE Brendan O’Connor MP, Minister for Skills and Training. Next day, Shri Pradhan will hold Dialogue with Group of Eight on building successful Australia-India research collaboration. He will also hold Dialogue, organised by Australia Indian Chamber of Commerce and Monash University. Later, the Minister will be interacting with the Indian Students in Melbourne.
