National Employability Through Apprenticeship Program (NETAP) is looking to get the apprentices involved in higher education. Sumit Kumar, Vice President- NETAP, TeamLease Services explained that they are in talks to enable these apprentices to get some sort of a certification for the programme.
“Self-learning and some sort of a certification apart from the apprenticeship programme will be helpful for individuals,” he said. They are looking to churn out around 500,000 apprentices in the next 3 years and Kumar said that sectors like retail, manufacturing and financial services are offering a good opportunity.
NETAP is a Public Private Partnership of TeamLease Skills University, CII, and NSDC under the National Employability Enhancement Mission of the Ministry of HRD (AICTE). It aims to help unemployed youth to build skills through learning by doing and learning while earning along with providing them with access to practical skills.
A NETAP apprenticeship qualifies for credit towards certificates/diplomas/degrees offered online by Teamlease Skills University (TLSU).
Kumar said that the response for the programme has been positive and they have been able to get a good absorption rate for the apprentices. He explained that 23 percent of the apprentices are absorbed in the same company while 56 percent are absorbed in the industry. NETAP proposes to appoint 2,00,000 apprentices every year for the next 10 years.
It is estimated that India has around 3,00,000 apprentices. Kumar said that while the Apprentice Act of 1961 mandates that every employer appoint apprentices but it is rigid, unevenly implemented, and ineffective.
India has about 25,000 employers appointing apprentices. The UK has about 200,000 employers while one state of Australia (Queensland) has 26,000.
The NETAP programme offers 200 hours of cloud training on soft skills, english language and computer skills. Further, there is an apprenticeship with a client for a duration of anywhere from 3 months to 24 months to provide the requisite training.
Apprenticeship refers to a way of learning a craft or trade under a master craftsman to be better equipped for a job. Apprenticeship is an agreement between a person (an apprentice) who wants to learn a skill and an employer who needs a skilled worker.
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