As many as 210 skill training centres will be started in the State as part of the Centrally-sponsored STARS (Strengthening Teaching-Learning and Results for States) scheme.
Fourteen such centres will be piloted in the first phase so that students can be provided with knowledge and skills based on their interests to secure employment in the changing world, Minister for General Education and Labour V. Sivankutty said at a press conference here on Friday.
The centres will provide skills training to not just vocational students but also to those who had no formal skill training as part of their formal education and anyone below the age of 23 who had discontinued their formal education. Differently abled children will be trained to help them earn a means of livelihood.
The courses will be of maximum one-year duration. On-the-job training and classes by experts will be part of the training. The maximum age for admission will be 23 years. The courses will be free. A security deposit of ₹1,000 will be charged from students at the time of admission
Additionally, students will be given orientation on entrepreneurship, experience, and opportunities.
The centres will have one batch each of 25 students for two select job roles. These will be chosen by a committee that includes the samagra shiksha, Kerala project director and the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) director.
The focus will be on government secondary, higher secondary, and vocational higher schools.
The State-level inauguration of the skill training centres will be held at Government Higher Secondary School, Kamaleswaram, at 5 p.m. on February 19 (Monday).
