Future of Education Through Skilling

Prof (Dr) Apoorva Palkar Vice Chancellor ,Maharashtra State Skills University

Skills has gained significance owing to the positive demographic divided of India and the world is looking at India to provide the skilled human capital to the world. India is fast emerging to become a developed economy with major production and consumption happening in India. With 75 years of our existence as Independent India we have the eyes of the world on us that is growing at a phenomenal rate. Skill India movement has been in India for almost close to two decades ,while this was seen as tactical with certification and support from government funding leading to employable generation ,it lacked the degrees and diplomas as outcomes. The recent establishment of

Maharashtra State skills university (MSSU) by the state government is an endeavour to developing skilled manpower that will meet the needs of the industry .

Started with pilot batches in 2023-24 with BVoc ,BTech , Honours courses in Undergraduate and MTech, MBA in aspirational areas like Innovation, business analytics, digital marketing , Big data, Cloud computing,cyber security the University wants to make a difference with its courses by inculcating skills and On-the-job trainings as a part of delivery. This year the University would go full scale to provide programs in various domains at Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur facilities

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Skill Gaps :

Understanding the skill gaps in various areas becomes really very significant as skill University is mandated to work on creating employable youth with the skills that are needed by the industry . For instance healthcare has become one of India's largest sector, both in terms of revenues and employment . This sector is expected to grow by 22.9% from the current state. This sector lacks the skilled manpower especially in paramedical side. There is a shortage of 2.36 lakh medical technologist as per recent study . Similarly Retail industry is estimated to grow by 18.1%. Organised players will increase from current 7% to 11%and retail no longer is a urban phenomenon but tier two and tier three cities are fast evolving in organised retail’s share in sale & establishment . A huge number of skilled resources are needed ?in this sector . Information technology has been a key growth driver for India and accounts for the largest revenue from exports for over two decades. The world’s 70% of human resources in cyber security are Indians .Ever changing technologies poise a great challenge for skilled manpower in this sector. Industries and manufacturing base is increasing in India as we speak of Make in India. This requires us to be good in Industrial design, manufacturing where talent is needed that is skilled and of international calibre. Needless to say cloud computing, Artificial intelligence , big data, analytics are the futuristic skills needed in technical graduates

Courses being offered ?:

Courses being offered by MSSU have inbuilt skills and certifications during the student and each course developed has a component of 40% classroom and 60% of skilling and On-The-Job Training . The students can opt for multiple entry and exit during the program. For instance the student could complete two years and get a diploma at Ug level, a three year and get a BVoc degree or a four year to complete his BTech/BBA/BA(hons)/BSc(Hons) as the case may be.

In the Commerce and Management the student takes up one year class room and starts acquires his class room knowledge plus skills needed and second year onwards he/she is assigned a industry for On-The-Job training . In technical and professional courses he/she takes five semester in the class room and three semesters on-the-job and so on.

Admission to all diploma/degree through CUET/JEE/CET/MSSU-CET and admissions to MBA through CAT/XAT/ATMA/MHCET/MSSU-CET . All certificate courses the admission is direct.

Short term Language course in Japanese language Skills, German Language Skills, English Language skills -Mumbai (Vidyavihar)

Certificate program -9month full time

In partnership with NSDC-international. Jobs in Japan, Germany, UK,Australia, Israel .

All details available on https://mssu.ac.in

Skills for Future :

What should be taught to make students prepared for future ? It is important that everyone should be taught the following soft? skills:

a)???????? Thinking skills b) Analytical Skills c) Language Skills d) Computational Skills e) leadership skills f) adaptability skills g) Problem solving i) creativity j) Design thinking k) Research

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Domain skills that need to be known are

Cloud computing (AWS/Azure etc) b) AI c) Cyber security d) project management e) Network administrator f)Programming skills ( Java/Python etc) g) App development h)data analytics & Statistical modelling i) interaction design ??j)animation k) Gaming? l) Retail j) Logistics k) Paramedics l) hospitality.??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

It is important to look for programs that have these skills embedded in the teaching methodology . Knowledge today can be acquired from many sources but what is significant is the ability to put the knowledge into practice through real experience of work.?

Entrepreneurship & Startup :

The University has also set up its incubation centre funded by Maharashtra state innovation society (MSINS) at its Vidyavihar facility. It has opened up applications for proposals from startups who may want to incubate at the University . A section 8 company MSSU-I spark foundation has been created . The incubation centre shall provide support to start-up companies who need help and support for mentorship and funding support .

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Future of work space

Major struggle at work place is for those who couldn’t and who cannot take up higher education due to uncontrollable factors . Skill Universities provide opportunities for those to carry on work and still add keep upgrading through credit transfers by taking up modules that link to their upgradation . Companies have also taken this very positively as it provides an opportunity for retention and qualification upgradation .

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The time is just ripe to make India the skill capital of world and make human capital that is certified in Maharashtra . To ride the wave it is imperative that aspirants and job seekers understand it is no longer learning for placements but learning for lifetime through skill upgradation.

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