New Delhi, October 27, 2020.

In line with Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of making India the kill capital of the world, Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) in collaboration with its unified regulator— National Council for Vocational Education and Training (NCVET) unveiled a robust set of guidelines for the Awarding Bodies (AB) and Assessment Agencies (AA) over a digital conference, today. The guidelines and operation manuals have been developed for the recognition and regulation of these two entities, which are key elements of skilling ecosystem. The guidelines aim at establishing quality, improving outcomes and standardizing the processes under Skill India Mission.

The National Council for Vocational Education and Training (NCVET) was notified by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) on 5^th December 2018. The NCVET acts as an overarching skills regulator which regulates the functioning of entities engaged in vocational education and training, both long and short term, and establishes minimum standards for the functioning of such entities. With NCVET’s sincere efforts in framing the guidelines and the operational manuals, country’s skilling ecosystem will witness robust regulations addressing the needs of multitude of stakeholders. The uniform certificate formats developed by NCVET is also a step in the right direction and a much needed reform. It will bring about uniformity and enhance the authenticity of the certification.

Stressing upon the need for these dynamic guidelines under the vision of Skill India, Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey, Hon’ble Minister for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, said, “Our country caters to a diverse skilling ecosystem which is supported by key stakeholders, and organizations. Therefore, it is imperative to have a vibrant policy framework that encourages improvements and key transformations in the skilling network. I am pleased with the addition of the regulator — NCVET responsible for quality assurance and formalizing the qualifications. The innovative methods and constructive tools underlined in the guidelines in the management of skilling institutions will create a regulated regime. I congratulate NCVET for their concerted efforts and for carrying detailed round of consultations for designing these guidelines.”

He further added, “Our honorable Prime Minister said that ‘skilling, reskilling and upskilling are key for staying relevant in the current times’, with this dynamic and outcome-focused document, we will be able to bring in positive reforms in both short term and long term skilling endeavours and will strengthen the regulation of bodies that certify skilled candidates across sectors. A skilling paradigm has already been put in place with approximately 5 Crore youth been trained during the last five years. These reforms will further prove to be a game changer in the skilling domain.”

India’s diverse skilling ecosystem caters to multiple levels of skilling in various sectors. Therefore, the need of the hour is to have a holistic strategy framework that encourages improvements at a vast level. The guidelines released today address the needs of many key stakeholders and take an approach of good governance. The prepared guidelines take into account the existing systems while incorporating the progressive changes required to empower every candidate who desires to be skilled. 

The key dignitaries present at the conference for unveiling the guidelines were Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey, Hon’ble Minister for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE), GoI, Shri Praveen Kumar Secretary MSDE, & Chairman NCVET, Smt. Vinita Aggarwal, Executive Member, NCVET under whose leadership, rigorous and detailed exercise was undertaken by NCVET team to develop these guidelines and Smt. Sunita Sanghi, Principal Advisor, MSDE.