The Fact News Service
Chandigarh, June 21
In a bid to facilitate employment opportunities to the youth of Punjab by enhancing their skills and competence according to the global needs as desired by the Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, Punjab Skill Development Mission (PSDM) has inked an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Microsoft to ingrain essential skills to at least 10,000 youth of state in a year.
The MoU was signed by Director PSDM Amrit Singh and Country Head Education, Microsoft Corporation India Pvt. Ltd. Sanjay Dhingra here on Friday.
Congratulating the whole department for achieving another milestone, Punjab Employment Generation, Skill Development and Training Minister Aman Arora said that this collaboration will pave a way to inculcate skills to 10,000 youth in Punjab with essential digital productivity skills, employability skills, English communication skills, entrepreneurship skills, and technology skills, including cloud, Artificial Intelligence (AI), cyber security and sustainability. The department has not been leaving any stone unturned to facilitate employment opportunities to the youth of Punjab, he reiterated.
Elaborating on the collaboration, Amrit Singh said that the comprehensive future skills collaboration with Microsoft for 2024-25 includes multiple targeted initiatives designed to address the specific needs of diverse learners catered by PSDM, aiming to enhance their skills and competence according to global needs and provide them with employment opportunities in an AI-enabled economy for better livelihoods.
She also emphasized that the Department of Employment Generation, Skill Development and Training is determined to cater to the manpower requirements of the industry by providing them the skilled youth from Punjab. More MoUs will be signed with other companies in the near future, she added.
KEY ASPECTS OF THE COLLABORATION:
– Foundational digital, employability, and AI fluency skills for 10,000 rural youth, young women, girls, and persons with disabilities to improve their workforce participation rate.
– In-demand and industry-relevant digital skills for jobseekers registered with the Department of Employment Generation, linked to entry-level AI-enabled jobs.
– Awareness and in-depth training programs on Cloud, AI, Security, and Sustainability (Green Skills) through trainers for students in technical and vocational education institutions, enabling in-demand career roles.
– Capacity building of government officials on digital productivity skills and AI fluency skills to deliver next-generation citizen services.
– English communication skills, 21st-century skills, and AI career awareness for youth in higher school education, undergraduate courses, and vocational training to connect young people with job opportunities.
