Redesigned 'Skill Connect' portal to be launched on July 15: Ashwath Narayan

Bengaluru: Skill Development Minister C N Ashwath Narayan, who also heads Higher Education, said, on Wednesday, that the redesigned web portal 'Skill Connect' of the Skill Development Department will be launched on July 15, on the day of World Youth Skills Day.

Speaking after inaugurating the job fair organised by the Department of Skill Development at Bandarkar's college, Minister Ashwath Narayan claimed that the portal would bringboth job aspirants and employers onto a single platform.

"This portal would enable assessment of skill gap by providing access to job opportunities. This would also facilitate filling the shortage of human resources required for industries. The portal which existed earlier has now been redesigned to make it more effective," he explained.

Saying, the government has collaborated with companies with the objective of imparting skills to students, he added, that there should not be a mismatch between industry demands and skills acquired by students. The technology is being effectively made use of to bring about transformation in the system, he stated. Under National Education Policy (NEP 2020), learning Data Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, and Cyber Security has been made mandatory. The State of Karnataka is the first in the country to enter into an MoU with NASSCOM with the objective of imparting skills to students. Likewise, the government has entered into a pact with Infosys SpringBoard, which has 5000 add-on courses, the minister explained.

There are about 1200 ITIs across the state wherein 1.5 lakh students can be accommodated on long-term courses and 1 lakh students on short-term courses. The admissions in Polytechnics have risen from 30,000 students to 75,000 and there are GTTCs in 31 districts across the state. Except for Medical Course, there is no shortage of seats in any other course, Narayan explained.