The Punjab Technical Education and Employment Generation Minister Mr. Charanjit Singh Channi today inaugurated the ‘I-Work Capacity Building Workshop’ at Hotel Hayat which is being organised by the British Council. Speaking on the occasion Mr. Channi said that British Council is working with the Punjab Government to strengthen apprenticeships training and engagement of apprentices in the State under the ‘Improving Work Opportunities for Young People in the Commonwealth (I-Work)’ Project.
The Minister thanked the British Counsel and the British High Commission for choosing Punjab as a part of their study on apprenticeship as a mean for improving work opportunities for the youth of Punjab. The minister also extended full support to this noble mission of strengthening Apprenticeship Training in the State for making Punjabi Youth skilled as per global modern technologies and making our youth employable as per international standards. Mr. Channi said that if the students are provided with an opportunity of being trained on the latest equipment and technology in the industry by way of apprenticeship, this would be a win-win situation for both, the employer and the employee.
Mr. Simon Perryman, Global Apprenticeship Expert, I-work, presenting his expert views said that it is high time that we understand the importance of strengthening Apprenticeship Training and learn from the best practices available in the world. He said that institutes need to upgrade their training equipments, at par with the global industry to make youth employable.
Ms. Neeta Das, National Apprenticeship Expert I-work said that this workshop has been organised as part of the MOU signed with the Punjab Government by the British Council for educational and cultural cooperation to support the knowledge ambitions and economic growth in the state. She said that the objective of the workshop is to provide complete understanding about the Apprenticeship Training Scheme (ATS) and National Apprenticeships Promotion Scheme (NAPS), raise awareness about the recent amendments in the policy and share experiences. The prominent amongst others present on the occasion included Mr. Parveen Thind Director Technical Education Punjab, Mr. Bill Burson, Senior Project Manager, I-work U.K., Ms. Sandeep Sahay, Assistant Director Skills, British Council, Ms. Neeta Das, National Apprenticeship Expert I-work and Senior functionaries of CIl.
The workshop was attended by Nodal officers at Industrial Training Institutes and Polytechnics, Senior Industry representatives from Ludhiana, Chandigarh and Mohali and senior officials from the Department of Technical Education and apprenticeship advisors.