Private firms engaged in ten ITIs for imparting skill training

KOLKATA: The state department of Technical Education, Training & Skill Development (TET&SD) has roped in private partners for providing skill development training in 10 of its government Industrial Training Institutes (ITI) across the state.

It was decided to closely monitor the training module conducted by the

private training providers after allegations of irregularities cropped up against some training providers.

"We want to ensure transparency in the entire training programme. So, we are starting a pilot project by engaging private training providers," Purnendu Basu, minister of Technical Education, Training and Skill Development said.

The government ITIs located at Howrah, Daspur, Nakashipara, Siliguri, Tufanganj will come under this project. "The same concept may be extended to the government polytechnics as well if this turns successful," Basu added. Presently, the training programme is being conducted online. But, with the COVID-19 situation showing improvement physical training is expected to resume soon. The department has cancelled affiliations of 70 training providers after gross irregularities were found. The training providers were roped in by the Sector Skill Councils, under the aegis of National Skill Development Corporation. "We found that the training providers were manipulating attendance of students to siphon off government money," the official said.