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India's first skill park comes up in Kerala

The project being implemented through the nodal skill development agency, the Kerala Academy for Skills Excellence (KASE), under the Labour Department is aimed at boosting the employability of educated youth.

Trivandrum - India's first community skill park has come up at Chavara village in Quilon district of Kerala.
The park called Kaushal Kendra (Centre for knowledge acquisition and upgradation of skilled human abilities and livelihood) was inaugurated by Chief Minister Ommen Chandy on Saturday.
The project being implemented through the nodal skill development agency, the Kerala Academy for Skills Excellence (KASE), under the Labour Department is aimed at boosting the employability of educated youth.
Set up at a cost of Rs15 million, the skill park has world-class facilities to identify the aptitude and occupational interests of the youth and impart the required skills to them to further their career through various courses. The centre would have facilities for Assessment and Career Guidance, Language Lab, Digital Library, Assessment and Career Guidance and Multi Skill Centre. The career guidance cell will help youth realize their career aptitude and choose the course that is best suited for them after taking into consideration their socio-economic and educational backgrounds.
The language lab will help the youth obtain proficiency in English and other foreign languages in association with the English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad. The high-end digital library, tied-up with the World e-Library, will ensure access to digitised, authenticated content from across the world. The multi-skill room, equipped with video conference facility, will provide skill training depending on industrial needs. There will be round-the-year training in various fields with the support of training and industrial partners. It will also facilitate placements.
State Labour Minister Shibu Baby John said similar centres will be set up in Calicut, Palghat and Kannur this year and in the remaining 10 districts next year. He said that the centres will focus on developing entrepreneurship skills of the unorganized sector.
"The skill development initiatives will equip individuals with multiple skills so they are able to meet changing career demands. This is the first such centre in India instituted specifically to meet the shortcomings of our educated youth and boost their employability at very nominal costs," he added.
The initiative is considered significant in the light of the growing unemployment among the educated youth in the totally literate state. The majority of the youth coming out from the colleges and educational institutions are educated, but lack the skills that make them readily employable.
The lack of thrust on skill development, workplace abilities leads the youth to become desperate for government jobs. Majority of the four million youths registered with the employment exchanges in the state are waiting for government.
In May this year, more than a half million people appeared for a test conducted by the Public Service Commission selecting 1,500 positions of assistants in the state secretariat. The applicants included many professional degree holders, postgraduates, M Phil holders and doctoral researchers.

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