To give a push to the skilling ecosystem, the government has proposed establishing the National Council for Vocational Education & Training, along with skills universities that will offer degrees like master and bachelor of skills.

The Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Ministry has placed the guidelines on setting up skills universities in India in the public domain and sought comments within 15 days.

According to the draft norms, the universities will have specialised skill training labs, studios and centres of excellence developed in collaboration with industry. They will also have a counselling cell to assess the aptitude of students prior to their enrolment in a skill-based programme, apart from career counselling during their course.

Moreover, the placement cell shall organise campus recruitment by forging appropriate linkages with the industry.

“Presently, skill based courses are being offered under degrees of varying names. There is a need to have a uniformity in nomenclature to differentiate between the conventional  technical courses and the skill development degree level courses.

“In view of this, Bachelor of Skills (B. Skills) or Bachelor of Vocation (B. Voc) shall be used instead of all the other nomenclature being used for such bachelor level programmes in the country,” the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship said in the draft guidelines.

Similarly, master level degree programmes shall be known as Master of Skills (M.Skills) or Master of Vocation (M.Voc).