2 lakh graduate apprenticeship training facilities vacant

The Board of Practical Training (Eastern Region) BOPT(ER), Kolkata, organisation under the Ministry of Education recently announced the availability of more than two lakh apprenticeship training facilities in different industries and establishments in the eastern regions of India.

“Even post-pandemic, the job gain has not picked up. This has led to the availability of such a large number of vacancies for apprenticeship training,” said SM Ejaz Ahmed, Director, BOPT(ER), Kolkata.

Achint Kumar, Under Secretary, Ministry of Education, in his virtual address, applauded the efforts of BOPT(ER) for mobilising students and providing training and job opportunities to lakhs of students through the National Apprenticeship Training Scheme (NATS). For the current financial year, it is expected that 1.2 lakh graduates will join this scheme for which the Centre has allocated more than Rs 120 crores for payment of stipend to the trainees.

“A total of 43,590 fresh graduates and diploma engineers are undergoing apprenticeship training in eastern regional states. BOPT(ER) through its different initiatives such as the Regional Apprenticeship Day celebration intends to mobilise graduates and diploma engineers to come forward and get their skills honed to meet the current industry demand and improve their employability. It is observed that more than 92% of such apprentices are either absorbed in the same industries or secured employment in other establishments post-completion of their training,” Ahmed said.

Dr Ravindra Soni, Advisor AICTE (Delhi), Prof VK Tewari, director, IIT Kharagpur, and Dr Savita Sengar, VC, Jharkhand Rai University Kolkata were present when the regional apprentice day was celebrated in Kolkata recently.