Government clears proposal to set up a National Skill Development Agency

Updated on: Friday, May 10, 2013

In an effort to give a single point focus to skill development intiaitve, government cleared a proposal to set up of a National Skill Development Agency (NSDA) subsuming other bodies engaged in this initiative

The Union Cabinet, which met here, gave its nod to NSDA replacing the Prime Ministerâ€™s National Council on Skill Development (PMNCSD), the National Skill Development Coordination Board (NSDCB) and the Office of the Adviser to the PM on Skill Development.

It will be located in the Ministry of Finance, said a government statement.

The new skill body will coordinate and harmonise the skill development efforts of the government and the private sector to achieve the targets of the 12th Plan and beyond.

It will also anchor and operationalise the National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF) and be the nodal agency for sector skills councils and endeavour to bridge the social, regional, gender and economic divides in skilling.
Expressing confidence in the new structure, Sharma said, "We know what we are doing, we are fully convinced with it. We are doing it for the betterment of the students, and I am sure someday we will be proved right."

"When something you work hard over comes true...it's a feeling of great pleasure," she said.

Some professors, however, expressed their disappointment over the "hasty manner" in the which the DU passed the courses for their introduction from this academic year.

"I gave dissent note as we have not been given enough time to assess the syllabus. The Executive Council (EC) has no right to make any changes...we can only reject the courses. More time should have been given to formulate the syllabus," EC member Ajay Kumar said.

The dissenting EC members also accused the DU administration of not giving them enough time to even go through the agenda prior to the meeting.

"Agenda papers were given only today and these had not been consulted with us. The university should have informed us about the agenda seven days back which they did not do. Not even a day was given to us to deliberate on the amendments made by the academic council," Kumar said.

But those expressing satisfaction over the new system said the programme structure has been designed to enhance the employability and entrepreneurial skills of students.

"All the courses and ordinance related have been passed in the Executive Council meeting to put a stamp on DU's four-year programme. The programme permits flexibility to students to study the subjects of their choice," EC member Aditya Narain said.

The Academic and the Executive Councils in their meetings held on May 7-8 and May 9, respectively, approved 55 courses with a majority of 86-6 and 19-2. These courses had earlier been scrutinised by a Standing Committee of the Academic Council.

Amendments in the university ordinances, including changes in nomenclature of degrees and admissions under reserved categories, were also approved.

The four-year programme with multiple degree options will entail a shift from the present 10+2+3 scheme to a four-year graduation with multiple exit points.

Government clears proposal to set up a National Skill Development Agency

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