Conference at Don Bosco Technical School, Shillong

State Level Conference of Industries & Training Institutes at Don Bosco Technical School, Shillong
By Mr. Michael Hmar

Guwahati, Apr. 24 2008 Don Bosco Technical School, Shillong is organizing a State Level Conference of Industries and Training Institutes on 25th to 26th April, in collaboration with SKIP, Bangalore. The thrust of the conference is to find ways and means to bridge the mismatch between the expectation of Industries and competence of job seekers.

There is a vast demand from Industries and other job providers for skilled labour. In the next 20 years, this demand is expected to be 200 million. Yet the problem of unemployment does not seem to diminish. There are a minimum of 34 million job seekers registered with Employment Exchanges in the country, and Meghalaya had 31,249 registered in 2007. There is definitely a mismatch between the expectation of Industries and competence of job seekers. Training institutes, both Governmental and Private, think that training is incomplete unless it ends with employment or entrepreneurship.

How do we bridge the gap between demand and supply? What concrete actions can be taken?

Participants

The conference planned hopes to get the views of all stakeholders in order to arrive at a solution to the problem of unemployment.

Attending the Conference are Government Departments, industry and job providers in all fields. Training Institutions who will be present will study the training imparted, and make the necessary corrections in curriculum and methodology to make trainees employable. Training Institutions attending the Conference will be Government and Private it is & Polytechnics of Meghalaya, Don Bosco Vocational institutes of North East India, and ``Skills for Progress`` (SKIP) Bangalore which has a membership of 220 Vocational Training Institutes in the country.

Other stakeholders who will be present are Financial Institutions and NGOs imparting skills training.

An interesting segment of the participants will be Local Headmen of Shillong, who can be an important link in bringing about changes in mindsets of communities and job seekers.

Sessions

After the Inauguration (10.00 am to 11.00 am on April 25) there will be 5 input sessions from 5 different groups of stakeholders.

On April 26, Training Institutions will reflect on the inputs, and arrive at some practical lines of action.

Media

Print and Electronic Media will be able to disseminate the message of the Conference, and instill a ray of hope in the minds and hearts of the young of the region.

Seen in the photo are Fr. Kuttala Paul SDB, Rector of Don Bosco Technical School, Shillong, along with Mr. Michael Hmar, organizing Secretary of the conference and Vice Principal of DBTS, at a Press Conference at Shillong Press Club on 23rd April.