NSDA Signs MoU with British Council

•  National Skill Development Agency and The British Council signed a MoU today at NSDA’s office to collaborate for undertaking joint research projects in the area of skill development.
• This collaboration comes as a part of strengthening the overall research mechanism in skill development space and to encourage research collaborations with various national and international organizations.

About MoU

• Under this partnership, The British Council and the National Skill Research Division (NSRD), a research division under the National Skill Development Agency (NSDA) will work closely with each other to build research collaborations between the UK and India over a period of three years in the skilling domain.
• The partnership aims to promote knowledge exchange and research collaborations between UK and India in the skills space and to strengthen capacity of research organisations in both the countries so as to be able to work in collaborative research environments in the Sector.
• This kind of collaboration is in alignment with the overall mandate of the recently established National Skill Research Division that will serve as a think tank on research related to skill development and evolve as a credible research organization in skills space at the national level.

About NSDA:

• The National Skill Development Agency (NSDA), an autonomous body, (registered as a Society under the Society's Registration Act 1860) was created with the mandate to co-ordinate and harmonise the skill development activities in the country, is part of the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE).

Functions:

• Take all possible steps to meet skilling targets as envisaged in the 12th Five Year Plan and beyond;
• Coordinate and harmonize the approach to skill development among various Central Ministries/Departments, State Governments, the NSDC and the private sector;
• Anchor and operationalize the NSQF to ensure that quality and standards meet sector specific requirements;
• Be the nodal agency for State Skill Development Missions;
• Raise extra-budgetary resources for skill development from various sources such as international agencies, including multi-lateral agencies, and the private sector;
• Evaluate existing skill development schemes with a view to assessing their efficacy and suggest corrective action to make them more effective;
• Create and maintain a national data base related to skill development including development of a dynamic Labour Market Information System (LMIS);
• Take affirmative action for advocacy;
• Ensure that the skilling needs of the disadvantaged and the marginalized groups like SCs, STs, OBCs, minorities, women and differently abled persons are taken care of;
• Discharge any other function as may be assigned to it by the Government of India.

By: Vishal