On Monday, Union HRD Minister said that the Maharashtra government is planning to professional Bachelor courses which will make the graduates immediately employable.
“We are conceptualizing professional BA, B.Com and B.Sc courses in which we will give a choice to students to take 1,000 extra hours of courseware along with their regular courses,” he said. Javdekar said that the courseware will include 250 hours each of soft skills and computer skills and 500 hours of one or two course-specific skills.
“These will enhance students’ preparedness for jobs because we find millions of job opportunities waiting for the right person. On the other hand, we have millions of educated unemployed students. It is a perfect case of a mismatch. Those students who pick up skills will get immediate job placements. That is the need of the hour,” he said.
Javadekar spoke via video conference at ‘Skill India - The Way forward In Higher education’ which began at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) on Monday.
The opening session was attended by the state Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar, state Skills Development and Entrepreneurship Minister, Sambhaji Patil Nilangekar, MP Kirit Somaiya and Anil Sahasrabudhe, Chairman, All India Council for Technical Education, among others.
Rajesh Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, said that the central government is also working on a similar program which will ensure industry apprenticeships for the undergraduates during the summer vacations.
“During these apprenticeships, students will align skill with demand. As a result, recruitment will become skilled and employment will improve because the employer will be able to observe the student and not ask for a skill certificate,” he said.