Sambalpur, June 27: Balangir resident Bijaya Sahu, 23, is looking forward to learning more in house wiring, which will help him earn his livelihood.
Sahu is one among the 164 youngsters, who today started skill development training at Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology.
The Balangir youth said: "I have already completed a course from the ITI in electrical. However, this training will help me know about wiring in houses, which will aid me in earning my livelihood. I am happy, because I will be trained by experts here."
Students from Bargarh, Balangir, Rourkela, Sambalpur, Burla and Jharsuguda have enrolled themselves for the training, which aims to make the youth self-reliant.
"The university had advertised about the programme. We invited applications from youths, who have a minimum qualification of Class VIII, to take part in the programme. Initially, we had planned to train 60 students. However, we received around 164 applications and subsequently decided to train all of them," said skill development programme chairman P.K. Hota.
"We will conduct a seven-day training programme and then take a test. We will impart them with practical training in the sectors they have opted for. There will be five-hour sessions each day, which will take place at the laboratories. The students will get certificates from the varsity after successfully completing the programme," Hota said.
The varsity is training the youths in seven sectors. While 48 youngsters have signed up for MS Office, 20 have enrolled for MS Excel and 32 for mobile repairing. Similarly, 12 youths have enrolled for digital integrated circuit, 35 for house wiring, nine for carpentry and eight others for welding. At least three technical persons, including a course co-ordinator, an instructor and a mechanic, have been engaged to provide training in each sector.
"The objective of the programme is to make youngsters use their skills for livelihood. They can start their own businesses using the training that they get here. Another objective is to create skilled manpower for the service sector. There is a lack of skilled labour in some sectors and the training programme will help meet that demand," said the civil engineering department head P.C. Swain.
"The programme is a continuous process. After the training is over, we will take feedback from the participants and design the course for the next phase," said Swain. He also said they would seek help from the government for funds to organise more such programmes.
