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Hills College starts first Vocational degree program

By CM Paul |

Salesian College Sonada and its Siliguri campus has launched for the first time Skill Oriented diploma and degree courses starting with this academic session in mid-July.

Admissions are going on for Bachelor of Vocation Courses in Retail Management, at Sonada, and Travel and Tourism Management at Siliguri campus.

“This skill based program which provides both Diploma and Degree possibilities is the need of the hour to fight growing unemployment in the country,” says Principal Dr George Thadathil who claims Salesian to be the first college to implement the program in the Hills.

“Both students and parents are enthusiastic when informed about the new program with three possible exit points, namely diploma, advanced diploma and degree,” says Program Coordinator at Sonada and HoD of BBA program Assistant Professor Dhiren Newar.

Newar adds, “The parents are happy, because the admission fee is only Rs. 1,600 (almost ten times lower than regular courses at Sonada), and the tuition fee is affordable at Rs.600 (six hundred) per month.”

“The students are happy, as the course has only 40 per cent theory content and 60 per cent practicals with industry tie-up for internship and employability absorption,” explains B.Voc first batch student Farman Khan coming from Himali Boarding School.

Khan gets eloquent when he speaks about B.Voc opportunities saying, “Students are tired of continuous studies. What we need is skills imporatnt for the job market.”

“If a student is in urgent need to start earning, he or she can leave the program after one year with diploma,” Khan adds.

Under the purview of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, various skill oriented courses are implemented by University Grants Commission (UGC) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) through Community Colleges, Bachelor of Vocation courses (B.VoC), and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya (DDU) Kausal Kendras to boost the employability of youth.

Currently, there are 1109 courses being run by 556 institutions (300 B.VoC. colleges, 188 Community Colleges and 68 DDU Kaushal Kendras), in which 38,414 students are receiving skill training with certification.

“The assessment and certification of skill development courses being implemented by the institutions under MHRD is done by Sector Skill Councils (SSCs), which come under Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship,” said Union Minister for Human Resource, Dr. Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on 4th July 2019.

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Former HoD, Dept of Mass Communications at Assam Don Bosco University, Guwahati, C.M. Paul was editor of The Herald weekly in Kolkata and director of Don Bosco International News Agency (ANS) based in Rome. He did MA in Journalism & Mass Communication from FORDHAM University, New York.
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