Shillong, Sep 27: Minister in charge of Labour, Employment and Skill Development, Methodius Dkhar, said that while Meghalaya’s youth are educated, they lack vocational skills.
“What we found out and realise is that the state of Meghalaya has less-skilled educated youth. We are educated but we have fewer skills,” Dkhar said.
He said most students and parents focus only on mainstream education and ignore vocational training or ITI.
He urged the younger generation and parents to treat vocational training as important as mainstream education.
He said vocational training can pave the way for numerous job opportunities.
He said students can join vocational training at different levels of studies, right from Class 8 to higher levels.
Vocational training provides hands-on skills that directly match industry needs. It makes youth employable, encourages self-employment and reduces dependence on government jobs.
The Minister said the department is coming up with many ITI programmes. He said the government is developing a software that will have all information on ITI courses available in the state.
He said the programme will also have records of all passed-out ITI students.
“Employers in need of ITI students can just go to the website and have all the records and likewise the passed out students,” he said.
