The Tamil Nadu government will train nearly 50,000 college students with knowledge in computer science, electronics and IT domains, skilling them on problem solving using technologies. This is to help companies get skilled workforce. The programme called Nalaya Thiran (Tomorrow’s ability) under the Naan Mudhalvan (I am the first) - the umbrella programme of the Chief Minister MK Stalin - will be launched soon to give students a hands on experience on problems, said IT Secretary Neeraj Mittal.
Globally, over 20 million jobs were lost due to the Covid pandemic. While there is a rebound, job creation has been under stress, especially post pandemic. The jobs that are to be created are high-tech, necessitating reskilling and upskilling. The government can do little, not very much, he said.
Annually about four lakh people are added to the workforce, of which, nearly one lakh are STEM-related. The Tamil Nadu government has created the Nalaya Thiran program to help the industry get skilled students, he said, at a Nasscom Future of Work 2022 in Chennai on Tuesday. “This is sorely missing, and most of the companies do it in their campuses during the first six months of their joining. We are trying to do this during 6th or 7th semester and to be launched very shortly,” he said.
It is not a pilot programme, but covering the entire 50,000 students who would be doing problem solving using tech platforms. This multi-agency programme has been co-created by Nasscom, ICT Academy and Skill Development Corporation, giving students access to much needed cross-cutting skills. “If they are looking at a problem, they should not look at the books, but mentally solve them and think innovatively using skills learnt in their colleges,” said Mittal.