Sikkim gets an Overseas Employment Skill Development Centre at IHM Sajong

AMEET OBEROI
GANGTOK, 29 Jan: Aspire Human Capital Management [Aspire] and Institute of Hotel  Management [IHM], Sikkim launched the first Overseas Employment Skill Development Centre in Sikkim, here at the Institute situated at Sajong, Rumtek today. The centre is being supported by Directorate of Capacity Building.
IHM was selected for this project by Aspire, the knowledge partners for this Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs [MOIA] sponsored project, jointly implemented by India Centre of Migration [ICM] and International Organisation of Migration [IOM], while the certification comes from Edexcel, a Pearson group company, United Kingdom.
Speaking at the launch, chief guest, Secretary, Labour Department CT Wangdi, remarked that such centres would provide exposure to students to different kinds of trainings which would help them apply for any kind of job in any part of the country. This is a pilot project and is being done for the first time in Sikkim, he added.
The state government started the Directorate of Capacity Building with a vision for the children of the state so that they could learn different skills and apply for placements in various fields, he informed.
Students of the state have a good command over the English language as they are taught to speak from an early age and they also dress up reasonably well which is needed in the hospitality industry, thus this gives them a plus point amongst others, he said and added that even if 20 students get placements after this project, it will be a huge boost for the state. This is a big opportunity for the students, so the students should not miss out on this chance, stated Mr Wangdi.
“There is ample scope in this industry, it is just that there is the need to harness this potential. There is a lot of money going out of the state in terms of human resources, which can be curtailed as it is not necessary for students to go out of the state to work”, he said. He added that people here are not ready to work hard so work force has to be brought in from outside, thus, there is the need to change the mentality of the people first.
The programme was also addressed by Ravindra Singh [Vice President, Vocational Education and Training, Aspire] and Mr. Paul from Edexcel, UK, who are also the resource persons for the two-day programme and by JT Gyaltshen [Principal, IHM].
The Aspire-IHM [Sikkim] Overseas Employment Skill Development Centre will provide short-term vocational training programmes targeted at the youth who wish to take up overseas employment, while the certification is by Edexcel, UK’s largest awarding body offering academic and vocational qualifications and testing to schools, colleges, employers and other places of learning in the UK and internationally.
The Aspire-IHM [Sikkim] Overseas Employment Skill Development Centre also launched its first programme, Aspire Edexcel BTEC Hospitality level 2 Advance Certificate Programme for the students of Sikkim. Trainers from IHM [04] and Assam Downtown University [09], another Aspire venue in Guwahati, Assam will be trained at IHM by Edexcel UK to roll out the programme.