Delhi cabinet clears proposal to start skills varsity

New Delhi: In order to equip more students with skills that will enable them to secure employment, the Delhi cabinet Monday cleared the proposal for the Delhi Skill and Entrepreneurship University (DSEU).

While announcing the plan for the university, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said once the Lieutenant-Governor approves the proposal, the Delhi government would make efforts to pass the Bill in the winter session of the Delhi assembly. “Within a year of getting the L-G’s nod, we expect to launch this university,” Kejriwal said.

With an initial intake of 50,000 students, the university will offer various courses including graduate, undergraduate and doctorate degrees.

Students, who have completed their class 10 and 12, can enrol in regular and part-time courses of durations ranging between six months and two years. “The new university will provide a job guarantee to its graduates, “ the CM said, adding that the university would collaborate with industries and companies.

All existing Industrial Training Institutes (ITI), Polytechnic Institutes and Skill Centres will be merged with the university. The government said currently, 18 government ITIs and 44 private ITIs impart certificate-level training to around 15,000 students.

According to Kejriwal, the main focus of DSEU would be “to make students employable and the performance of the university will be measured in terms of the jobs that its graduates get”.

While the curriculum will be designed in collaboration with experts, the university will be “flexible” to the changing requirement of markets. “Various governments have made skill centres but those centres did not adapt to the requirement of the market. Courses, once designed, remain the same for 25-30 years. The new university will design courses after taking into consideration relevant market research,” Kejriwal said.

Sisodia, who holds the education portfolio, said the department had done extensive research before announcing the university. “Studies were conducted based on other models in Singapore, Finland, Brazil, Germany and Australia to understand the system of skill education,” he said.

The education minister also said the proposed university would focus on the research component in skill education and provide higher education opportunities to those who choose to study skill-based courses at the school level.