<p>For students, particularly from rural areas, who are unable to pursue engineering through the regular stream, there are adequate opportunities to be engineers. Several polytechnics offer a generic technical training. <br /><br />Organisations offering training, especially to those from rural areas who are high on enthusiasm and low on exposure, are now finding smarter ways of working with the industry to provide a viable channel for rural students and technicians to become well-trained and well-informed engineers. <br /><br />“Technical training should be such that a student who goes through it should never be searching for a job,” said N Reguraj, Managing Director of Nettur Technical Training Foundation (NTTF). “He should rather be in the job. That has been the motto of our organisation.” <br /><br />NTTF, formed as an Indo-Swiss church project in 1950, almost exclusively focused on training rural students in technical skills and placing them in various industrial houses across the country. But over the years, as demand for technically qualified personnel grew in a host of engineering and technical areas, from electronics to PCB (Printed Circuit Board), the Foundation started to receive applications from cities and towns across the country. <br /><br />“We started with just 20 trainees per annum, but today we have anywhere between 9000 to 10,000 people applying for our training programmes,” Reguraj said. With more people, the mode of training has also changed. “We used to provide free training.<br /><br /> But we realised we were forcing charity on people who actually didn’t want it. So our model changed as we also became a section 25 (social enterprise) company,” the MD said. <br /><br />Earn-while-you-learn programme <br />NTTF’s training approach differs in two crucial ways: It tailors its training to suit the specific technical requirements of an industry; it provides a stipend to students for the work they do at the shopfloor as part of their training. <br /><br />Training fresh hands in mechanical engineering with tool and die-makers had a pattern to it, but with electronics, software and computers, customised training became vital. “We work with Indus Tower, a company that creates cellular phone towers that can be shared by two or three telecom service providers,” Reguraj said.<br /> <br />“Manpower close to an army was required to keep the base towers running. With each service provider having its own towers, this only became complicated, not to mention, costly. Indus Towers gave us a challenge to design a training programme for those who were maintaining these towers. Our programme included six months of in-house training and six months on the field. Instead of a battalion of people doing the job, companies can now do it with two or three persons, cutting the cost and eventually making services a bit cheaper.” <br /><br />In such cases, NTTF provides training at the company’s facility, with more practical training and theory lessons on site. In most cases, the company shares the stipend provided to the students with the Foundation, with the possibility of a diploma after four years. “The qualification is recognised by community colleges and IGNOU,” Reguraj said. <br /><br />The project at Pantnagar, Uttharakhand, where NTTF works with Ashok Leyland and the state government to train youth for technical jobs has been hailed by the industry as one of the best models for job creation. So much so that the project has been made part of the state government’s labour policy to train youngsters between 18-25 with secondary school qualification. <br /><br />Students are given a two-year certificate in manufacturing engineering with shopfloor training and on-site classroom instructions. While they can opt out after two years with the certificate, they also have the choice of continuing for a further two years and getting a diploma. “The fee is paid by Leyland, who also offers training under their production line, while we offer the technical inputs and class instructions,” Reguraj said, adding that a similar project is also going on at Sholingar, near Chennai. <br /><br />“Students are paid a scholarship of nearly Rs 10,000 for the production work, allowing them to earn while learning. The best thing about this is that, while they can further under graduate engineering, their practical understanding is far superior to someone coming through the academic system.”<br /><br />In the 21 centres NTTF has across the country, preference is given to rural students. Particularly those who have had education at the panchayat school. <br />The Foundation is also trying out newer methods such as lateral entry — by which students can enter into a training programme any time and exit once the basic objective of their training is fulfilled. “We are also trying to divide admissions into two or three times a year, which would enable students to finish their training at different times of the year,” Reguraj said. <br /><br />Salient features<br />*This is a 2-year industry customised certificate programme in manufacturing technology followed by a two-year industry customised diploma programme in manufacturing technology.<br />*This scheme is open only to the youth of Utharakhand in line with the labour policy of the state which insists on 70 per cent employment to locals.<br />*Youth in the age group of 18-24 who have passed Class 12 in Science/ Arts / Commerce are inducted through an entrance test and screening process by NTTF and an agency from Chennai called CEO Talent Search, which also does culture-building from day one of the training.<br />* Students are inducted in batches of 40 to 50 every month and at present there are 800 students, which will scale up to 1,500 by the end of 2012.<br />*Nearly 30 of the students are girls<br />*There is no employer-employee relationship and it is only a student-institution relationship.<br />*Students have the option to leave after the 2-year certificate programme.<br />*The first right to employment after four years is available to Leyland and the student also has an equal right to opt out and go to any industry of his choice.<br />*The programme is approved by IGNOU. Opportunities for higher education are also available.<br />*It is an industry/ institute/ student- friendly programme.<br />*The training fee is funded by the corporate.<br />*The student also gets a scholarship to meet his living expenses (ranging from Rs 5,500-Rs 10000 per month)<br />*Insurance, transport, subsidised food and uniforms are provided to students.<br /></p>
<p>For students, particularly from rural areas, who are unable to pursue engineering through the regular stream, there are adequate opportunities to be engineers. Several polytechnics offer a generic technical training. <br /><br />Organisations offering training, especially to those from rural areas who are high on enthusiasm and low on exposure, are now finding smarter ways of working with the industry to provide a viable channel for rural students and technicians to become well-trained and well-informed engineers. <br /><br />“Technical training should be such that a student who goes through it should never be searching for a job,” said N Reguraj, Managing Director of Nettur Technical Training Foundation (NTTF). “He should rather be in the job. That has been the motto of our organisation.” <br /><br />NTTF, formed as an Indo-Swiss church project in 1950, almost exclusively focused on training rural students in technical skills and placing them in various industrial houses across the country. But over the years, as demand for technically qualified personnel grew in a host of engineering and technical areas, from electronics to PCB (Printed Circuit Board), the Foundation started to receive applications from cities and towns across the country. <br /><br />“We started with just 20 trainees per annum, but today we have anywhere between 9000 to 10,000 people applying for our training programmes,” Reguraj said. With more people, the mode of training has also changed. “We used to provide free training.<br /><br /> But we realised we were forcing charity on people who actually didn’t want it. So our model changed as we also became a section 25 (social enterprise) company,” the MD said. <br /><br />Earn-while-you-learn programme <br />NTTF’s training approach differs in two crucial ways: It tailors its training to suit the specific technical requirements of an industry; it provides a stipend to students for the work they do at the shopfloor as part of their training. <br /><br />Training fresh hands in mechanical engineering with tool and die-makers had a pattern to it, but with electronics, software and computers, customised training became vital. “We work with Indus Tower, a company that creates cellular phone towers that can be shared by two or three telecom service providers,” Reguraj said.<br /> <br />“Manpower close to an army was required to keep the base towers running. With each service provider having its own towers, this only became complicated, not to mention, costly. Indus Towers gave us a challenge to design a training programme for those who were maintaining these towers. Our programme included six months of in-house training and six months on the field. Instead of a battalion of people doing the job, companies can now do it with two or three persons, cutting the cost and eventually making services a bit cheaper.” <br /><br />In such cases, NTTF provides training at the company’s facility, with more practical training and theory lessons on site. In most cases, the company shares the stipend provided to the students with the Foundation, with the possibility of a diploma after four years. “The qualification is recognised by community colleges and IGNOU,” Reguraj said. <br /><br />The project at Pantnagar, Uttharakhand, where NTTF works with Ashok Leyland and the state government to train youth for technical jobs has been hailed by the industry as one of the best models for job creation. So much so that the project has been made part of the state government’s labour policy to train youngsters between 18-25 with secondary school qualification. <br /><br />Students are given a two-year certificate in manufacturing engineering with shopfloor training and on-site classroom instructions. While they can opt out after two years with the certificate, they also have the choice of continuing for a further two years and getting a diploma. “The fee is paid by Leyland, who also offers training under their production line, while we offer the technical inputs and class instructions,” Reguraj said, adding that a similar project is also going on at Sholingar, near Chennai. <br /><br />“Students are paid a scholarship of nearly Rs 10,000 for the production work, allowing them to earn while learning. The best thing about this is that, while they can further under graduate engineering, their practical understanding is far superior to someone coming through the academic system.”<br /><br />In the 21 centres NTTF has across the country, preference is given to rural students. Particularly those who have had education at the panchayat school. <br />The Foundation is also trying out newer methods such as lateral entry — by which students can enter into a training programme any time and exit once the basic objective of their training is fulfilled. “We are also trying to divide admissions into two or three times a year, which would enable students to finish their training at different times of the year,” Reguraj said. <br /><br />Salient features<br />*This is a 2-year industry customised certificate programme in manufacturing technology followed by a two-year industry customised diploma programme in manufacturing technology.<br />*This scheme is open only to the youth of Utharakhand in line with the labour policy of the state which insists on 70 per cent employment to locals.<br />*Youth in the age group of 18-24 who have passed Class 12 in Science/ Arts / Commerce are inducted through an entrance test and screening process by NTTF and an agency from Chennai called CEO Talent Search, which also does culture-building from day one of the training.<br />* Students are inducted in batches of 40 to 50 every month and at present there are 800 students, which will scale up to 1,500 by the end of 2012.<br />*Nearly 30 of the students are girls<br />*There is no employer-employee relationship and it is only a student-institution relationship.<br />*Students have the option to leave after the 2-year certificate programme.<br />*The first right to employment after four years is available to Leyland and the student also has an equal right to opt out and go to any industry of his choice.<br />*The programme is approved by IGNOU. Opportunities for higher education are also available.<br />*It is an industry/ institute/ student- friendly programme.<br />*The training fee is funded by the corporate.<br />*The student also gets a scholarship to meet his living expenses (ranging from Rs 5,500-Rs 10000 per month)<br />*Insurance, transport, subsidised food and uniforms are provided to students.<br /></p>
