Union Minister of State for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), Giriraj Singh, has urged the Central Tool Room and Training Centre (CTTC), Bhubaneswar, to increase the intake of school dropouts and improve their chances of employability.
“Every year around 93% children take admission in primary level but by the time they reach the high school level, their number reduces to 25% to 27%. The challenge is to give employment to those who have dropped out,” Singh said during a visit to the CTTC campus in Chandrasekharpur.
“All dropouts should be given long-term and short-term courses because they have the practical knowledge of working in the fields while higher degree holders have only bookish knowledge,” he pointed out.
“The mushrooming of engineering colleges must focus on making the students employable and skilled,” he said while asking the CTTC Director to send a proposal to the state government along with the employment track record and urge it to provide training to more school dropouts. Sources said in the last three years 272 school dropouts were trained in the tool room and most of them have got jobs.
Taking stock of the courses and placement record of the CTTC, Singh advised the institute not to confine itself to a technical institute. “Innovative ideas, industry link and entrepreneurship are the major areas where emphasis should be given along with technological excellence. Value addition in agriculture industries is also the need of the hour as today’s youth is veering away from agriculture.
They don’t understand we need vegetables, paddy, cereals, livestocks or poultry to live on. We cannot eat microchips,” the Minister said.
Source: Times of India
