World Trade Centre Goa in association with Swiss Indian Chamber of Commerce, Mumbai, SkillSonics India Pvt Ltd. and World Trade Centre Mumbai, organized a Seminar on “Swiss VET - The Gold Standard in Vocational Training” on November 10, 2017, at Panaji, Goa.

The Indian Education system, encompassing the formal sector like School and Higher education and informal sector like Vocational Education Training , could be classified as the largest in the world and is poised to grow to almost 180 billion dollars in 2020 from its approximate value of 100 Billion US Dollars.
The Seminar was to showcase the Swiss VET Model and Switzerland's expertise in this field and to present specific initiatives of Swiss Skill Development in India.

The Chief Guest, Mr. Vivek. B. Kamat, Director Technical Education, Government of Goa, began his address by giving an overview of the various courses currently offered, he stated that in the current scenario Industry has to have a paradigm Shift in the methods the use to employ and hire labor force. He said Industry has to recast their job requirements, descriptions and specifications, so that keeping in mind the changing technological advancements, the Educational Institutes, both formal and informal can churn out highly skilled manpower that would be suitable to industry.

Mr Kamat opined that, currently, Engineers are expected to do a whole lot of activities once they are employed in a particular Industry, thus diluting Quality Time available to do the core activity of Engineering. He said this trend has to be stopped and we have to concentrate on using the Engineer to his full potential in the core are of his expertise. He was positive that the Swiss VET Model would provide much needed skills to upgrade the output and quality of the Indian labor force.

Mr Larry D'Souza , CEO of the Swiss Indian Chamber of Commerce, appraised the delegates present that he was very much associated with the Swiss VET initiative Pilot Project that was initiated way back in the year 2008. He also shared that the project which encompassed 6 Swiss Companies in Pune has gained tremendous success, and he would like same to be replicated in the State of Goa too.

Mr. G.P. Chandra Kumar, Founder, Co-Chairman & CEO, SkillSonics India Pvt Ltd informed that the 3 year pilot project started in the year 2008 in India, has today proven itself and is greatly appreciated by the entire Eco System. SkillSonics, he said, will offer various Diploma and Certificate Courses for students passing out of the 10th Standard as well as the ITIs. They will also offer "Train the Trainer" programmes.

Mr Kumar also spoke on the NSQL and the NSDC/SSC Model and elaborated that SkillSonics creates value through Analysis, Curriculum, Enablement, Training and assessment and aims at the success of an individual as well as society at large through building up Attitude, Skills and Knowledge. Mr Kumar informed that they will be aspiring to train one Million Technicians by the Year 2022.

Mr Stany Oommen, Factory Manager, Nestle India Ltd, Bicholim, Goa, spoke on Swiss VET: The Indian experience, and said that in Switzerland the job profiles do not matter, every job is given equal status, this is not so in our country. He opined that for every change there has to be a start, and Goa being a small State, may rightly be where we can start looking for this change to happen, and if successful, the same can be implemented all over India. He said that they are not only focus on the engineering aspects but also on others like skilling of Carpenters, Masons, Hotel Receptionists etc as the industry today needs multi skilled personnel as they contribute tremendously to the reduction of cost of production and enable the company make available the product in the market at a right price.
Mr Swaroop Naik, President Tuem Industrial Estate Manufactures Association & Director – Pai Kane Group of Companies , in his closing remarks stated that he was convinced that the Swiss VET Training Module will bring in the kind of Skill sets that the Industry require. He said that Goa is a place where we find much difficulty in getting professionally skilled labor. He wished that this model of Vocational Training be vigorously implemented all over the state and said that he was ready to lend his support so that this can be a grand success in the State of Goa.

Earlier Mr Cyril Desouza, Asst. Director - Trade Promotion, WTC Goa, welcomed the delegates and also moderated the Seminar.

Seen in the Picture from L-R : Mr Swaroop Naik, President Tuem Industrial Estate Manufactures Association & Director – Pai Kane Group of Companies, Mr. Vivek. B. Kamat, Director Technical Education, Government of Goa, Mr. G.P. Chandra Kumar, Founder, Co-Chairman & CEO, SkillSonics India Pvt Ltd and Mr Stany Oommen, Factory Manager, Nestle India Ltd, Bicholim, Goa