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Illustration: Binay Sinha
In a bid to strengthen the integration between industries and the vocational training sector, the latest draft Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) affiliation norms ease the compliance burden for a new category of ‘New Age ITIs’.
Released last week by the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) for stakeholder consultations, the new norms state that these ‘New Age ITIs’ will not follow the normal queue of affiliation applications.
“A separate section will be introduced on the designated affiliation portal, with a defined timeline of four months for affiliation decisions. The affiliation portal for New Age ITIs shall remain open throughout the year to facilitate a continuous application process,” the draft affiliation norms state.
The new draft rules come at a time when the ITIs have emerged as the focal point for skilling in the country, with the FY25 Budget announcing a new scheme that will upgrade 1,000 ITIs in a hub-and-spoke arrangement. This scheme targets to skill 2 million youth over the next five years.
Earlier last month, MSDE had also released the latest annual grading of about 15,000 ITIs under the annual data-driven grading methodology (DDGM). This new method of grading showed an improvement in the performance of these institutes, with 18.9 per cent of ITIs scoring more than 8 on a scale of 0-10 this year compared to 12.4 per cent of ITIs in the grading conducted last year.
A private organisation or a public sector enterprise can open a ‘New Age ITI’ or can adopt and transform an existing ITI into a New Age ITI.
Any industry, as defined under Section 2(p) of the Industrial Code, 2020, including a limited company, private limited company, state undertaking, public sector establishment, or central sector establishment with a minimum strength of 500 employees (regular + contractual) and a minimum annual turnover of Rs 250 crore and positive net worth during the last three financial years can apply for New Age ITIs.
Among the norms that are being revised, the current mandatory requirement of four trades for opening a new ITI is waived for these institutions, allowing them to offer any number of industry-relevant courses. Additionally, there is no constraint on land requirement for them.
Besides, these institutes can offer existing courses by the directorate general of training (DGT) along with new age courses such as AI programming assistant, 5G network technician, 3D printing, cyber security assistant, and drone technician.
Other relaxations in the rules include that these institutes can decide their own criteria for identifying and selecting candidates and can determine their fee structures internally.
“The revised norms are aligned with the objectives of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which emphasises the significance of vocational education in creating a skilled and capable workforce.
Additionally, the 2024 norms place a stronger emphasis on collaboration between ITIs and industry stakeholders, recognising the critical role of industry partnership,” reads the latest draft affiliation norms.
Besides, the new norms also provide for establishing ITIs within the spare capacity of polytechnic and engineering colleges in a bid to promote the optimal use of existing resources and to enhance training capacity with minimal investment.
First Published: Sep 16 2024 | 8:51 PM IST
