Enhancing Skill Development through use of MeLT Van: An Experiment at IGNOU

Abstract

Higher educational institutions (HEIs) are expected to produce youth with employable skills. As we are aware that today India has the world’s largest youth population. We have the responsibility to create adequate market ready (talent and expertise) workforce for our domestic use on one hand and for the use of the whole world on the other hand. It is high time to contribute significantly to realize the mission and vision of Hon’ble Prime Minister of India who launched the Skill India Mission in 2015 with a statement “In the coming decades, the largest workforce required by the world will be provided by India.” The Government of India has set a target to enhance the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education to 30 percent by 2020-21. The National Education Policy 2020 also envisages skill component in the curriculum to enable the students to acquire relevant skills for competency development and entrepreneurship. There is a felt need for the transformation in delivery mechanism (instructional design and implementation) in the current system of education, be in conventional mode or Open Distance Learning (ODL) mode. The present paper is an attempt to highlight the practical interventions of IGNOU Regional Centre Bhubaneswar with integration of Mobile e-Learning Terminal (MeLT) Van for improving quality of delivery mechanism in implementation of a short term certificate programme for skill development of rural youth in Kondhamal district of Odisha, a rural, remote inaccessible area.The findings of the initiative have revealed a good model of delivery of an academic programme through ODL mode for skilling the youth, to enhance employability and develop a network of collaboration for entrepreneurship. The outcomes of this initiative will benefit all stakeholders associated with education, employment, and training.