Delhi University-CII Partnership to make graduates employable

Elaborating on the initiative, Mr Vijay Thadani, Chairman, CII National Committee on Education said that 6 months short courses will be offered to students in Automobiles, Retail, and IT/ITES sectors from 1 July onwards at Keshavpuram center of Campus of Open Learning. The model would subsequently be scaled up to offer courses in Healthcare, Biotechnology, and Media. These courses will equip students to join relevant industries at the entry-level. He stated that though the University system provides firm knowledge foundation to students, it is also necessary to impart functional skills to students to be productive while responding to the global demand of 40 million skilled work forces.

Delivering the Key note address, Prof. Deepak Pental Vice Chancellor Delhi University said that the objective is to provide employable skills to undergraduate students and provide skilled manpower to industry. He lauded the initiative taken by industry and said with support from CII it was a win win situation all round - for students, for DU as well as for Industry. He emphasized that the pilot model needs to be scalable and sustainable, such that it could be replicated throughout the country. He also mentioned that Teacher Training was an important issue and also of huge concern, which needs to be addressed.

Lt Gen S S Mehta, DG, CII highlighted that industry is keen in partnering government institutions in discharging responsibility towards society. Since the average productivity of Indian labour is half his counterpart in Thailand and one third in Mexico, there is an urgent need to respond to the competing environment. He mentioned that innovation in education would provide solutions to industry and academia and bridge the islands of success.