Process initiated for undertaking Skill gap study, Youth Aspiration Survey for the youth of J&K: Dr. Abid

Jammu: Mission Director J&K Skill Development Mission (JKSDM), Dr. Syed Abid Rasheed Shah today chaired a meeting to initiate the process of devising fresh skill policy and skill roadmap for Jammu & Kashmir.

The meeting was attended by Director, Skill Development Department Mr. Sajad Hussain Ganai, Director( Finance), Skill Development Department Mr, Mohamad Ayub Nasir, senior staff of JKSDM and other skill development stakeholders.

This exercise is important to gain an in-depth understanding of the existing skill ecosystem, a fresh analysis is essential to ascertain the demand and supply of the labour market and industry requirements. This analysis will provide grass root level information about the different parameters required for developing the skill roadmap of J&K.

It was given out that there is a need to channelize talent of youth in the right direction and this skill gap study will help in charting the future strategy to prepare our youth for jobs and entrepreneurship opportunities.

Mission Director JKSDM gave out that the Mission has initiated the process to hire services of quality consultancy organization to undertake the process.

“A skill gap study will be conducted to ascertain the exact picture of demand and supply of skilled workforce in J&K which will be followed by youth aspiration survey to gain information about the skill aspirations of the youth in J&K,” Dr. Syed Abid said.

Under this initiative, the skill gap study will estimate demand and supply of skills at district level and translate the gap in demand and supply into a UT and district level action plan. The study will also ascertain the priority sectors for skilling in J&K that can provide employment to the local youth, identify job roles that are in high demand in these priority sectors and categorize skills that are required by the industry for these job roles.

Youth aspiration surveys through focus group discussions shall be conducted in each district to understand the skilling and learning aspirations of the region’s youth, their preference for various types of jobs and location, employment in J&K UT and outside. The surveys shall also capture the willingness of youth to migrate outside the district, UT and country and identify top industrial and employment hubs preferred by the youth of J&K.

Based on the findings of the surveys, a skill policy will be devised which willbe guiding force for the government to undertake skill andentrepreneurship development initiatives in J&K.

Meanwhile in an another meeting, Mission Director Skill Development Mission (SDM), Dr. Syed Abid Rasheed Shah reviewed the process of inviting Expression of Interest (EOI) from reputed consultancy services for developing Management Information System (MIS) for the skill ecosystem.

Speaking during the meeting, Dr. Abid stressed on the officers to complete the formulation of EOIs within the stipulated time frame so that work on the development of MIS may be initiated on priority basis.

The Mission Director JKSDM impressed upon the officers to follow the process on daily basis as the introduction of MIS system will strengthen the Skill ecosystem here and ease the process of seeking private sector jobs besides revolutionising the skill training initiatives in Jammu and Kashmir.

The meeting was informed that the software will contain all the relevant information about the programs being implemented by various skill implementing departments and will highlight the skill development initiatives being taken by the Government.

It was further given out in the meeting that the software will be used to track pass outs from ITIs, Polytechnics and PMKVY scheme. The tracking mechanism shall act as a data dashboard which will give accurate information about the number of skilled youth in J&K and the skills possessed by them and will in turn facilitate the process of industry employers to seek their services.

MIS will also promote data sharing and will avoid overlapping of programs implemented by various skill development stakeholders. It will provide support in data analytics which will contribute in providing quality implementation and monitoring of skill training programs.

It was pointed out that MIS is being also linked with the national portal and other labour management portal across the country and will track the progress of training providers, transition of candidates from trainees to employees. A mobile application will also be incorporated which will be used for uprgadation of skill programs and can be used by both trainees/passouts and employers to seek information at various levels.

It was also given out that prospective employers will submit their demand into the portal and the same information will reach to registered candidates on the portal and this way they can approach the employers or vice versa.