Bhubaneswar: The theme for this year’s World Youth Skills Day is ‘Skilling teachers, trainers and youth for a transformative future’. It highlights the essential role that teachers, trainers and other educators play in providing skills for youth to transition to the labour market and to actively engage in their communities and societies.
Technological advancements and shifting labour market dynamics increasingly call for agile and adaptable skill sets. It is crucial that we empower young people to navigate these changes effectively.
The objective of this day is to better socio-economic conditions for today’s youth as a means of addressing the challenges of unemployment and under employment.
The day also highlights the important role of skilled youth in addressing current and future global challenges. It is known that Skill India is an initiative of the central government which was launched to empower the youth skill and make them more employable and more productive in their work environment.
“Odisha Skill Conclave 2023, an initiative by the state government towards ‘Nua Odisha’ where 11 lakh youth will be trained future technologies like cloud computing, artificial intelligence, data sciences is an opportunity for the youth to skill themselves enough and create employment opportunities for their future generation, “said Sanket Behera, an entrepreneur in the city.
“The upcoming entrepreneurs will have a lot to learn from us but with the use of tech and skills the growth will be manifold”, Sanket added.
“Introduction into the world of technology and new terms associated with it are pretty interesting. Most of the schools are now gearing up to include subjects under computer sciences which will make the students proficient by the time they graduate. We can see many computer geeks in the age group 12-14 years. This trend bodes well for the state”, said Annirudha Pradhan, a private school teacher.
“With the addition of future technology-based subjects in the curriculum, we as teachers have to gear up constantly to update ourselves,” Pradhan added.
The unengaged youth who have been struggling for years to find a job in the state say, “Although industries are growing and tall buildings are being constructed, yet we don’t have job opportunities for various domains. Even if we want to work in Odisha, the diminishing scope doesn’t allow us to. The skills don’t come to use if we cannot be productive in our state. The government of Odisha should focus on bringing companies to Odisha with various job roles for its youth”, said Pratyush Nayak, an IT employee based in Bangalore.
Industrial Training Institute principal Jeetamitra Satapathy said, “I will always ask the youth to be patient enough and not always run after finding jobs. Don’t always be a job seeker, be a job giver as well. For that, you’ve to make yourselves capable enough and catch up with the fast growing world. Keep acquiring knowledge in all directions that you can.”
It is important to recognise you and develop your skill-set and continually keep analyzing yourself. It is vital to always explore yourself and find your uniqueness, she added.
SMRUTI REKHA BARIK, OP