Guwahati, Feb 23: The Rubber, Chemical and Petrochemical Skill Development Council (RCPSDC), New Delhi has signed a memorandum of understanding with the University of Science and Technology Meghalaya (USTM) on Wednesday to start a Bachelor in Vocational (B. Voc) course in rubber production to help improve the quality of employable skills of the students of USTM.
USTM vice-chancellor G.D. Sharma and RCPSDC’s regional head, Prasenjit Dey among other officials attended the MoU signing ceremony.
As part of the MoU, the council, which is under the National Skill Development Corporation, will assist USTM in aligning the curriculum with identified rubber sector qualification packs and national occupational standards for B. Voc and other course curriculum related to rubber.
The MoU will also facilitate training and help in provisioning of master trainers from the industry and develop industry linkage to enable the students to have practical training and skill development on the job.
The USTM vice-chancellor said the university would take preliminary steps for implementation of relevant programmes which would aim to enhance the employability of students by equipping them with industry/business-relevant skills.
“We will appoint and empower a committee to vet the courses and suggest suitable changes and arrange our infrastructure to carry out training batches, mobilise the trainees and assist for promotional support so as to publicise the initiative for skill development and to facilitate mobilisation of trainees,” Sharma said..
The RCPSDC regional head said that the MoU was basically aimed at imparting extracurricular skill development training.
“There are 6000 rubber industries which desire to recruit more skilled people in rubber technology. However, at present, there are only four or five universities that are imparting such skill courses. USTM can take the lead role in the Northeast to impart such skills in the region and help our students get placements in the rubber industry,” Dey said.