Sector Skill Councils

What are Sector Skill Councils?

• Since its inception, one of the major pillars of NSDC’s strength is Sector Skill Councils (SSCs), which play a vital role in bridging the gap between what the industry demands and what the skilling requirements ought to be.
• The National Occupational Standard is one of the most significant contributions of NSDC to India's skilling ecosystem - something that was made possible by the SSCs, which are national partner organizations that bring together all the stakeholders - industry, labour and academia.
• The SSCs operate as an autonomous body and could be registered as a Section 8 Company, or a Society.
• NSDC is mandated to initiate and incubate SSCs with initial seed funding to facilitate their growth and enable them to achieve self-sustainability in a time-bound manner.
• National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), under the aegis of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, has,so far, formed 37 Sector Skill Councils (SSCs) which cover all the major sectors to fulfil the skilling needs of their respective sectors.

Criteria to set up Sector Skill Councils

• The establishment of further Sector Skill Councils is based on multiple criteria like support from Industry for the creation of SSC, interest from Industry to participate in the activities of SSC, existing workforce of sector, need for upskilling/reskilling of the existing workforce, likely addition of new work in the next 5-10 years, etc.
• SSCs can also be approved if the target segment is special and unorganized but is sizable and needs skilling for better opportunities of employment, e.g., Skill Council for PwD, Domestic Workers Skill Council etc.7 SSCs are working for the needs of artisans/weavers/farmers.

Role of Sector Skill Councils (SSCs)

The National Policy on Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, 2015 laid out the Skill India Mission, and envisaged the creation of Sector Skill Councils (SSCs) by NSDC. Priority sectors have been identified based on the skill gap analysis.

Functions of Sector Skill Councils (SSCs)

The SSCs have been mandated with the following functions:

• Identification of skill development needs including preparing a catalogue of types of skills, range and depth of skills to facilitate individuals to choose from them.
• Development of a sector skill development plan and maintaining skill inventory.
• Determining skills/competency standards and qualifications and getting them notified as per NSQF.
• Standardization of affiliation, accreditation, examination and certification process in accordance with NSQF as determined by NSQC.
• May also conduct skill-based assessment and certification for QP /NOS aligned training programmes.
• Participation in the setting up of affiliation, accreditation, examination and certification norms for their respective sectors.
• Plan and facilitate the execution of Training of Trainers along with NSDC and states.
• Promotion of academies of excellence.
• Paying particular attention to the skilling needs of ST/SC, differently-abled and minority groups.
• Ensuring that the persons trained and skilled in accordance with the norms laid down are assured of employment at decent wages.