The government will bring a law to set up National Board for Skills Assessment and Certification (NBSAC) to ensure quality skill training.
Minister of State for Skill Development Rajiv Pratap Rudy said currently there is no common board for assessment and certification purposes.
"We are creating one act for NBSAC. This will be a big step forward as there would be a common assessment and certification board," he said while briefing media about the performance of his ministry.
He said a legislation is being prepared and "I am sure that we will be able to take this in the July session of Parliament".
The minister said questions are being raised on both the assessment and assessors as "assessment is a grey area".
"We are going between National Council of Vocational Training (NCVT) and National Skill Qualification Framework. We are going to establish the board," he added.
The board will combine industry-led SSC certification processes and government-authorised NCVT certification and will act as a one stop shop for examinations, assessments and awarding national-level certificates in compliance with NSQF, for skill development courses in the country.
Rudy also informed that an agreement has been reached with the HRD Ministry that anyone who has completed a two-year ITI course will get 10th pass certificate if the student has already studied till eight standard. Similarly, if a student has passed 10th standard and has ITI, he/she would get 12th pass certificate.
The candidates, however, will have to clear two papers to get these certificates.
"It is a historic decision. 18 lakh students are passing out from ITIs and in the last 66 years, crores of students have passed out. There was no validity of the ITI certificate for further studies.
"Now through the National Institute of Open Schooling, students who have passed 10th and have two-year ITI certificate, we would give them 12th equivalent certificate and it will have a pan India validity," he said.
Further, he said more than one crore youth have been trained under the Skill India Mission in 2015-16 which is 36.8 per cent higher than the previous year.
The ministry is also working towards the establishment of one model skill centre in each district which would be operational in more than 500 districts by March 2017.
"These will be high quality centres which will help make skill development aspirational and accessible," he said.
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
