Andhra Pradesh government partners with IBM for skilling of youth

Tadepalli: Taking a step forward towards making the youth ready for industries, the State government inked four memoranda with premier companies on Thursday.

Dr Arja Srikanth, MD and CEO of Andhra Pradesh State Skill Development Corporation (APSSDC) signed MoUs with the IBM India, Singapore Polytechnic International (SPI), India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) and LV Prasad Film & TV Academy (LVPA). G AnanthaRamu, Special Chief Secretary of Skill Development and Training, Challa Madhusudhan Reddy, chairman of the APSSDC were also prensent on the occasion.

Following the MoU with the IBM India, the APSSDC shall set up and operate the Centre of Excellence (CoE) in IT Sector. As part of CoE, IBM shall include only bearing the cost of giving access to the industry-relevant software as per academic initiative norms.

The IBM India will assist in developing courses and curriculum, training of the trainers programmes, industrial exposure, guest lectures and execution of high-end trainings in IT domain - coding, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, internet of things, blockchain, data science & analytics, cybersecurity, quantum computing, big data and full-stack.

Likewise, Singapore Polytechnic International (SPI) has partnered with APSSDC for enabling international level industry-led courses in the advance manufacturing, food innovation and food processing and entrepreneurship to be offered in skill colleges.

They will provide technical assistance and handholding support in establishing the industry-specific labs, develop courses and curriculum, design and deliver the training of trainer programme, offer joint certification and accreditation for the proposed courses, design and develop a quality assurance framework for standardisation of teaching and learning modules.

In the case of LV Prasad Film & TV Academy (LVPA), it has partnered with APSSDC to set up and operate a Centre of Excellence (CoE) in media and entertainment sector in Visakhapatnam district.

They will design and develop courses and curriculum, design and deliver the training of trainer programme, offer courses in basics of 2D animation, digital photography, basics of editing, basics of VFX and digital restoration, industrial exposure, guest lectures and also provide apprenticeship support under National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS).

The Indian Tourism Development Corporation as partner of the State government would set up and operate a centre of excellence in hospitality sector, design courses and curriculum and offer courses in hospitality trades, event management, front office operations, housekeeping, food and beverage operations and entrepreneurship programmes.

They will also provide accreditation and certification support.

The State Government has made it mandatory for the existing and upcoming industries in the state to reserve 75 per cent of employment to the local people through the Industries/Factories Act, 2019. In this regard, to increase the quality of the skill ecosystem and manpower supply in AP, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has directed the officials to establish skill university and skill colleges (one in each parliamentary constituency, one in each of the four IIITs and one in JNTU at Pulivendula).

The APSSDC has partnered with reputed industries, industry associations, technical institutions, universities and international agencies in the process of establishing skills university and skill colleges that will impart industry-driven skill courses to the students from ITI, polytechnic and graduation.