Client Showcase – ITI Cuttack
Background:
Started in 1958-1959, ITI Cuttack is one of the leading educational institutions in Orissa. One that is disrupting the conventional learning usually associated with ITIs, and heralding the change into skilling students for Industry 4.0. ITI Cuttack started with 11 trades and 200 students and has today evolved to have 24 trades and 2500 students. In 2005, this ITI was recognized as a Centre of Excellence in Production and Manufacturing, with a vision of creating a multi-skilled workforce.
Meet Dr.Hrushikesh Mohanty, Principal ITI, Cuttack –
Dr.Mohanty is one of the most vibrant, passionate, and dynamic educators one would ever meet. “Industry, Academica, and Government should work in tandem to ensure that we teach, skill, and equip students who are industry-ready and can cater to the demands of an ever-evolving digitally skilled workforce,” says Dr. Mohanty.
He has been the principal for the last five years, and in his tenure, some of the positive and impactful changes that he has created include:
● Changing the perception of every trade being looked at as the least exciting education option to an aspirational one that ensures better prospects of living. For example, Dr.Mohanty has continuously worked to transform the syllabus, approach, and outlook of a trade like carpentry to rechristening it as furniture making and ensuring that the students get absorbed in the organized and institutionalized workforce.
● Creating an ecosystem where the industry-academia interactions are not just enabled but proactively made to thrive. The presence of industry collaborations with leaders such as Honda, Benz, Schneider, etc., for 21 trades is testimony to his relentless efforts.
● Creating an environment where students are upskilled and industry ready right after their training. Each of the industry partners not only trains their instructors of ITI Cuttack but also provides their latest engines and equipment for students to work with and are also invited to test the students’ skills. This also leads to the industries getting access to a skilled workforce that meets their requirements and hence hits the ground running from Day 1 at work.
● Enabling students to get absorbed into the organized workforce, be industry ready, and helping them gain good incomes that can help their families move up the economic ladder.
“A lot of our students come from not very strong economic backgrounds. I want to ensure that after they learn with us, they get absorbed as skilled workers, not unskilled laborers. I also want my students to be the role models who change the perception of a welder or a mechanic from someone doing low-cost labor on the roadside to someone working in the automobile workshop of Bharat Benz or someone working in HAL.”
Through one of these industry-academia collaborations of Dr.Mohanty, Skillveri multiskill-simulators have been set up in the ITI lab. Available for welding, advanced welding, spray painting, refrigeration, and air conditioning (RAC), Skillveri simulators bridge the gap between theory and practicals, learning and doing, and help students quickly learn a trade-related skill through simulations. Typically, practicing the skills of every trade and learning all its nuances takes at least 18 months to perfect. One of the biggest advantages that Skillvery simulators provide is that students are exposed to the skill of welding, RAC, or spray painting and experience what is taught in theory.
Says Ms.Jhinia Rout, “We usually say give medium pressure or hold at 60⁰. What is medium pressure? How do you hold the machine at an angle? Earlier, these were things one learned only by practice. Now with Skillveri simulators, the numbers are marked. So students can easily quantify words such as “medium pressure”. Once they get it right on the Simulator and move towards using the machine actually, they get the hang of it very quickly. This way, they are also completely skilled when they complete the course.”
Ms.Jhinia has been a RAC instructor at ITI Cuttack for the last 12 years. She is currently an Assistant Training Officer. She trains around 150 students every year and, in the last 3 years, has used the Skillveri Simulator to bridge the gap between theory and practice.
Meet Ms.Nibedita Sahoo, Assistant Training Officer, ITI Cuttack, who trains students in the advanced welding and welding trade. Her days are long and busy, handling nearly 120 students in batches of 20 each.
“Skillveri simulators have ensured that our students overcome their initial fear of welding- especially holding a machine with sparks flying. Since the first exposure is on the Simulator, there is no smoke, and it is easier for the students to learn the steps. Also, the sequential progression through the levels and chapters make it easy for students to not only learn but also form peer groups and teach each other”, says Ms. Nibedita. Ms.Nibedita has 12 years of teaching experience and has been with ITI Cuttack for the last 3 years.
“Skillveri simulators make our life as an instructor easy,” say Ms.Nibedita and Ms.Jhinia in unison. Ms.Jhinia adds,
” Our students aspire to be independent entrepreneurs and run their own servicing businesses. The Simulator reduces their learning cycle and makes them skill-ready and employment ready as soon as they pass out. Otherwise, it typically takes 18-36 months for a welder or AC service personnel to handle equipment independently.”
Bebina Swain passed out of ITI Cuttack in 2021 after learning welding. She credits using Skillveri simulators for her learning the trade quickly and for returning to the institute to get trained in advanced welding. “First, when I joined the ITI, I did not have too many aspirations. I was even tentative after joining the welding trade. Using the Skillveri Simulator helped me overcome my initial fears. Also, since there was no smoke or eye irritation, I could learn the trade quickly. After passing out, I practiced the trade and am back now as I aspire to become a trainer in welding. I want other girls also to learn the trade and do well in their careers.”
We also spoke to her friend Puja Rani Jena who chimes in,
“I have welders in my family and wanted to become a welder with my own shop. I was always worried about the smoke burning my skin till I learned to weld properly. Skillveri Simulator helped me learn without the smoke and burns. It made me a confident welder. I am now in the process of getting a job to hone my skills before setting up my own welding shop.”
Salama Marandi is yet another student from the 2021 batch. Like Bebina, she also plans to pursue a teaching career after getting trained in advanced welding. “I did not have too many aspirations when I joined the ITI. My teacher’s passion and the ease with which I could learn the trade have helped me chalk out some future plans. As far as the Skillveri Simulator is concerned, it helped me learn the trade easily and without any health hazards.”
Pankaj Kumar Behra, current student, RAC –
“The feel is very real, and I could learn very quickly. Also, practicing on the Simulator makes the actual practice very easy for me. After this course, I plan to pursue a diploma and start my own business.”
ITI Cuttack is on a mission to ensure that only an industry-ready skilled workforce emerges from its portals. Most of the students hail from financially weak backgrounds, and getting absorbed by industry leaders will pave their way to economic and financial independence. ITI Cuttack, under the leadership of Dr.Mohanty, is solving the three-fold problem of ensuring that the money spent by the Government on education and skilling is utilized well, that industry gets a directly employable workforce who are abreast with whatever is the latest in the industry, and students who learn the trade are gainfully employed right from the start and are a part of the organized workforce and not treated as unskilled laborers.
