“In this era of digitization, World needs Science to meet its ever-increasing requirements and Science needs involvement of women to flourish,” Minister of State for Education and Tourism, Priya Sethi said today.The Minister was speaking at the inaugural function of two-day workshop on ”Scientific Skill Development among Women” being organized by Government College for Women, Gandhi Nagar in collaboration with Jammu and Kashmir Science, Technology & Innovation Council, Department of Science & Technology.Speaking on the occasion, the Minister appreciated the college management for organizing such programmes and stressed that colleges should constantly work to upgrade the technical skills of the students to inculcate the spirit of entrepreneurship in them.She further said that keeping in view the changing world scenario, there is an overpowering need for skilled workers in a country like India, which is relatively young a nation with around 2.8 crore youth being added every year. More than 50 per cent population in the country is below the age of 25 while as more than 65 per cent are aged below 35, she added.Integration of skill development and education is essential for skilling to take wings, she said, adding that, skill development will remain a distant dream if carried out in isolation through centers alone.
Priya Sethi said that educational institutes’ curriculum will have to go through a dynamic change for making India - the skill capital of world.Hs said that good news is that vocational education is India is now moving at fast pace and the first step in this direction has been introduction of Bachelor of Vocational Education by UGC.She further said that Bachelor of Vocational Education is at par with any mainstream gradation degree which gives an opportunity to the students to apply for post graduation courses where the eligibility is graduation. It is aim of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take innovative step towards the women skill development across the country, she added.Dean, Life Sciences Department, University of Jammu Prof Geeta Sumbal presented keynote address on the occasion and highlighted various methods through her presentation related to imparting development skills among people and women in particular.She also demonstrated different methods for utilizing waste material to cultivate mushroom in kitchen gardens for generating income and giving a boost to mushroom production in the State.Speaking on the occasion, Principal, GCW Gandhi Nagar Kiran Bakshi said that for the growth of the society as well as nation, women skill development plays a vital role as half of the World’s population is women and another half raised by women.Research Officer Department of Sciences & Technology, Jammu University Shruti Khana, various resource persons, college faculty and students from various educational institutes were present on the occasion.