The Odisha government has set up a World Skill Centre (WSC), a premier advance skill training institute to hone the skills of the youth, make them employable in different industries and create globally employable youth in the state.

Inaugurating the WSC on Friday on the occasion of the 105th birth anniversary of legendary chief minister Biju Patnaik, chief minister Naveen Patnaik said, “Odisha has made rapid strides in skill development in the last five years. We have created new avenues for our youth to compete with their counterparts anywhere. Our aim is to meet their aspirations, to make them globally employable.”

Naveen said the government is intensely investing in the future of youth by creating infrastructure and mechanism for making them future ready.

“World Skill Centre will significantly accelerate this endeavour by providing advance skill training to our youth and prepare them for competing at Global level,” Naveen said.

Officials maintained that the 18 storey World Skill Centre is being modelled around leading TVET Institute (Technical and Vocational Education and Training), ITE (Institute of Technical Education) Singapore and seeks inspiration from World Skills, Russia and GIFTS (Global Institute for Transferring Skills), South Korea. WSC is being established under Odisha Skill Development Project assisted by the Asian Development Bank with ITE Education Services (ITEES) Singapore as knowledge partner.

Minister for skill development and technical education Premananda Nayak, chairman, Odisha Skill Development Authority (OSDA) Subroto Bagchi, chief secretary S.C. Mohapatra, director general Asian Development Bank Kenichi Yokoyama, chief executive officer ITEES Bruce Poh, commissioner cum secretary Skill Development & Technical Education Sanjay Kumar Singh conveyed their wishes on the inauguration of the World Skill Centre. Industry leaders were also present at the event.

Highlighting the achievements of “Skilled-in-Odisha” during the last five years, Subroto Bagchi said: “The state will create Odisha Skill Vision 2030 and expand skill development to village level.”

Highlighting the role of the WSC in the skill ecosystem of India, Sanjay Singh said, “The World Skill Centre will act as the Centre for Industry Partnership and landing point for industries in Odisha for their employment needs.”

Set up at a budget of nearly Rs 1342.2 crore, the Centre would run long-term manufacturing and services programmes as a finishing school for the best among the ITI and Polytechnic students as well as serve as a centre for capacity building for ITI and polytechnic teachers.

“The World Skill Centre is ready to roll out the first set of courses in areas like refrigeration & air conditioning, mechanical & electrical services, vertical transportation, precision engineering, mechatronics and electrical technology along with a few other courses in the services sectors like hair fashion & design and beauty & wellness,” Singh said.

The WSC is going to be the nodal agency for preparing Odisha’s youth for the World Skills Competition. It will act as the centre for industry partnership and landing point for industries in Odisha for their employment needs. “The World Skill Centre will be Nodal agency of the state for the state chapter of world skills and will prepare Odisha’s youth for global glory,” said CEO, OSDA, Rashmita Panda.