Foreign universities roped in to give lessons on employability skills

The National Skills Development Corporation (NSDC) has roped in foreign universities like Harvard Business School, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Australia's Deakin University to enable candidates from small towns to benefit from international employability programmes at subsidised rates under the Skill India Mission.

The idea is to impart employability skills of international standards to cater to the high demand for skilled professionals across the globe, while also building a strong skilled workforce for India as big multinational companies look at setting up base here under their China-plus-one strategy.

"India needs a skilled workforce to attract capital inflows. Through these programmes, we will aim to provide employability skills to the candidates along with greater international exposure," Ved Mani Tiwari, the officiating chief executive of NSDC, told ET.


According to Tiwari, NSDC aims to skill, upskill and reskill 35 million candidates by 2025. Out of them, 5 million will be from school or higher education, while another 5 million will be enrolled for work-embedded education programmes with apprenticeship training.

These are fee-based online programmes and extend from three months to six months, after which the candidates may become eligible for a paid internship over the next 18 months, depending on the score achieved.

To facilitate students to enrol for these international programmes, NSDC has tied up with non-banking financial companies to provide collateral-free skills loan of up to Rs 4 lakh to aspiring candidates.

Besides, it has launched a 'Learn Now, Pay Later' scheme for select courses wherein the candidates can acquire the skills and pay the entire programme fee after getting placed. "Through this, we want to ensure that lack of money is not a constraint for aspiring candidates," Tiwari added.

Further, in order to retain candidates in the skilling ecosystem, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship has roped in private companies for the Skill Impact Bond. Under this, the NSDC has attracted foreign capital of Rs 120 crore.