New Delhi, 16 December
2021.
In
an endeavor to bridge the gap between skilling and employment, National Skill
Development Corporation (NSDC) and Generation India
Foundation (GIF) today announced the launch of Project AMBER (Accelerated
Mission for Better Employment and Retention) at India Habitat Centre, New
Delhi. The initiative aims to develop and implement a scalable, and
sustainable model of skill development that supports inclusive growth to ensure
better outcomes and institutional strengthening, to empower India’s youth with
the industry-relevant skills and employment opportunities
The
project is equally funded by the Ministry of Skill Development and
Entrepreneurship (MSDE) under the Skills Acquisition and Knowledge Awareness
for Livelihood Promotion (SANKALP) programme, and private philanthropy and aims
to train 30,000 youth, 50% of whom will be women. The training will be
conducted in Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras (PMKKs) across 70 districts in
COVID-resilient job roles.
Lauding
the initiative, Shri Rajesh Aggarwal, Secretary, Ministry of Skill
Development and Entrepreneurship, said, “The country today needs to invest
in skill development and training for its unique demography. The skilling
ecosystem has changed, especially after the pandemic, and it is our prerogative
to make sure our youth finds employment in the changing job market. Initiatives
such as AMBER allow employers and industry to join hands to provide prospects
in COVID-resilient job roles. Keeping the attrition rate in mind, we should
also ensure candidates get the right industry exposure, counselling and
pre-training to build their confidence. I am confident this programme will
inspire more global players and philanthropies to invest in India’s skill
development programmes and attract the youth to vocational training in their
aspiration to be self-reliant. I congratulate NSDC, Generation India and the
associated partners for launching this initiative that will align their
expertise towards skilling the youth of India.”
Project AMBER
targets to have a higher placement and retention rate than the prevalent programmes
so that skilling becomes relevant for learners and prepares them for resilient
job roles in a post-COVID economy. Identified COVID-resilient sectors and job roles
for this project include: General Duty Assistant, Junior Full Stack Developer,
Retail Sales Associate, Customer Service Executive, Sewing Machine Operator,
Hospital Front Desk Executive, Solar PV Installer, Food & Beverage Steward.
The job roles will be launched over a period of two years.
Project AMBER will lean
on the holistic seven-step approach of GIF, which will be utilised to drive
higher quality skilling, improve employment and retention outcomes. The
BlackRock Foundation, and McKinsey & Company are supporting the project.
Ved Mani
Tiwari, COO, National Skill Development Corporation, said, “NSDC
has been relentless in its pursuit of innovative solutions, always on the
look-out for future opportunities that can be leveraged to strengthen the
skilling ecosystem. With the launch of Project AMBER, our objective is to roll
out market-driven training programs that help create a skilled workforce geared
to take up jobs of future. The collaboration with Generation and private
philanthropy aims to build a robust network that can provide training delivery per
international standards and quality parameters. We believe, AMBER will be
instrumental in creating a holistic ecosystem that will pave new pathways for
new capabilities.”
“Project
AMBER is an ambitious effort to train, place, and support Indian youth into
jobs that will provide life-changing stability for them and their families, and
we are delighted to be part of it,” said Mona Mourshed, global CEO of
Generation. “This collaborative effort brings together government, private sector,
and nonprofit organizations and is exactly what’s required to address the
urgent challenge of getting people into work as the economy recovers from the
shocks of the pandemic.”
Speaking on the empowering project, Arunesh
Singh, CEO, Generation India, said, “The
pandemic has only exacerbated the problem of youth unemployment and no
organisation alone can solve it. Project AMBER brings in a solution to this
problem by bringing together the private sector, government, training
partners and employers. This addresses the immediate need of supporting the
youth in India with employable skills and job opportunities.”
The launch event also witnessed
certification of Retail Sales Associate batch from PMKK Jaipur by Rajesh
Aggarwal, Secretary, MSDE, Government of India. This was followed by a panel
discussion on ‘Outcome based skilling, challenges and opportunities, and
private sector participation,’ which was joined by Deepti Srivastava, Director,
MSDE, Government of India;Dr.
Shabnam Sinha, Lead Education Specialist, India, World Bank Group; RCM Reddy,
Managing Director & CEO, Learnet Skills Limited; Saipriya Sarangan,
Director and Board Member, Generation India; Arunkumar Pillai, CSO, NSDC; Priya Naik,
Founder and CEO, Samhita among others.