NSQF Compliance Consultative Meeting was held on 10th May 2018 at 11.00 AM at the CFTI Campus Meeting Hall, Guindy, Chennai.  The meeting was chaired by Mr. R. Ramesh Kumar, IAS, CEO, Leather Sector Skill Council, and it had participants from the academic institutions, industry managers and training partners.

Informing about the significance of the meeting, M. R. Ramesh Kumar, IAS, said that, as per the instructions of  Hon’ble Union Minister for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan,  all academic institutions in Leather and Footwear sector should align their courses National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF). This was intended to avoid duplication since many many institutions are involved in skilling in the leather sector through different schemes by Government of India and the State Governments. Hence there was a need for consensus and compliance .

Following this suggestion, LSSC had informed all leading academic and training institutions across India about NSQF compliance, alignment of Curriculum and requested feedback on the Job Roles and Training Courses in the Leather Industry. The objective of the meeting was to discuss the action points based on the recommendations from all the members. He requested Mr. Ramachandran and Mr. Rajesh Rathnam to make a presentation on the process and benefits of NSQF compliance.

The LSSC – QP-NOS/B.Voc/Skill Gap Study and curriculum review meeting was  held on 13th June 2018 at CFTI Meeting Hall, Chennai.  The meeting was chaired by Dr. Swarna V  Kanth, Principal Scientist and Head, CHORD, CSIR-CLRI and it had participants from the academic institutions, industry managers and training partners.

The first part of the discussion centered on ways to coordinate for developing Curriculum and Syllabus for B.Voc Courses for Leather/Leather products as per UGC guidelines and developing New Apprenticeship Curriculum and Syllabus for Leather/Leather products job roles. Mr.Ramachandran from LSSC briefed the participants about various aspects of  National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS) by linking it NSQF compliance, its benefits and the need to implement the scheme in the industry. This led to a productive discussion on new job roles in the industry where apprentices can be engaged and the role of Basic Training Provider (BTP) in implementing the scheme in MSMEs. Mr. Rathnam explained the appointment of brand ambassador for the NAPS programme to widen the reach and easy access.  Dr. Swarna V Kanth suggested the development of mobile application (Skill App) to enhance the skill and reading ability among the workers and apprentices. With regard to Skill Gap Study, it was proposed to identify leather clusters and deploy professionals who have experience on ground for the conducting the study.