Telangana Academy for Skill & Knowledge

Telangana Academy for Skill & Knowledge (TASK) is an initiative of the state government of Telangana. TASK was established in 2014 for skilling youth and Creating Synergy between institutions of Government, Industry and Academia with the objective of improving quality, relevance, access and Outreach of training. It also facilitates entrepreneurial abilities and enhances industry linkages.

Interventions

1.Technology Entrepreneurship Programme (TEP)

Technology Entrepreneurship Programme (TEP) is a semi virtual programme offered by the Indian School of Business (ISB) in partnership with Telangana Academy for Skill and Knowledge (TASK). The programme is tailored specifically to motivate and generate interest in entrepreneurship among 3rd and 4th year engineering students.

TEP has three primary goals at its Core:

• To promote technology entrepreneurship as a viable Career option and nurture the Culture of entrepreneurship in the region.
• Link entrepreneurial and innovative behaviour to educational and Career pathways.
• To provide an environment/experience for engineering students to Create investible technology based Start-ups.

The components of TEP can be broadly categorized into three areas:

• Core Courses: Online modules that cover topics on Product and Service Design, Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship.
• Practicum: Hands on activity based learning through Human Centric Design. Thinking Workshop, Engineering Design Challenge, Mentor Workshops/boot-Camps and industry Visits.
• Build Your Own Venture: In the Second year, a Series of boot-camps and mentor clinics are conducted to assist Students to build their own Venture. Additionally, classroom Sessions On topics like marketing strategy, negotiations and other management related topics, are held to prepare students be pitch ready for Demo Day With prospective investors.

2. Finishing School for unemployed youth.

• With a view to meet the shortage of skilled human resource requirements of Corporates, TASK has taken up an initiative to pilot a Finishing School for about 1000+ unemployed youth from districts across Telangana that also includes PWD & BPL category.
• The programme is held for 8–12 Weeks wherein the skilling sessions on Technical, Organizational and Personal Skill modules are delivered through Instructor Led Training, e-Learning and Self-Study Labs. These Sessions offer industry relevant learning Content which helps the students in enhancing the Success rate for getting through a job interview and selection process. The intervention facilitates young graduates to find jobs by enhancing their employability quotient and provides skilled Candidates to Corporates.
• The programme helps in enhancing the strike rate of the Candidate to get through a job interview and selection process, The unemployed youth are eligible to apply. The Specifications are in line With respective Company requirements.
• Candidates have to declare that they have not obtained a job while applying for this programme.
• The Selection of Candidates is done On the basis of assessment test, group discussion & interview and placement drives are facilitated after skilling.

3. Professor of Practice (PoP) - Quality Trainer

• A Professor of Practice is an experienced professional from Industry (E.g.: IT/ITES, Banking, Financial Services, Insurance, Retail, Healthcare, Automobile, Aviation, Manufacturing, Pharmacy, Government Services) either practicing or retired who visits Colleges across districts and helps deliver training to undergraduate students to improve Soft skills that WOuld impact the student's personal and organizational skills.
• Training students through the new skilling process designed by TASK is a critical component for the students' success and therefore the role that POPs (Professors of Practice) play in this process is of utmost importance.
• Effective pedagogy incorporates an array of simple skilling methods that promotes the Well-being of students, improves students' Confidence and thus enables the Students to perform better in interviews. The pedagogy includes 25% time spent on Concept, 25% case study, 25% practice session, and 25% evaluation & feedback of the student.
• The programme helps students improve their Communication skills, presentation skills, time management, values (safety, respect, environment, ethics), group discussions, preparing for interviews, goal Setting, team work, problem Solving, and decision making abilities.

4. Skilling in collaboration with Industry

• TASK has Collaborated with Technology Organizations to enhance technical skill of graduates While they are pursuing education.
• As part of this Collaboration the respective technology Organization enables the Content/delivery of technology training and Certification in the respective Colleges acroSS Telangana.
• TASK has assigned dedicated representatives for each of the technology accounts who play the role of master trainers to either Conduct the training themselves or do it via the Train-the-Trainer mode in Collaboration with a technology partner.

Key takeaways

• The Concept of finishing School after graduation equips students with the missing skills that are required in the market thus making them industry-ready.
• The programme helps improve their Communication, teamWork and problem-solving and decision-making abilities.
• Finishing Schools Works best when skilling programmes are Customized and delivered based on specific demand from industry.
• Professor of Practice is an innovative programme targeting the major problem of shortage of Well-qualified trainers/teachers.
• It is a unique programme where in industry experts facilitate knowledge, experience and skill sharing with the undergraduate students of Telangana through short-term programmes.
• By joining as POP several Corporate professionals have Contributed significantly in improving the employability skills of students by instilling Confidence in them and encouraging better performance.

For more information on TASK, click here.

Source : Skilling for employability - Best Practices