Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 14 Oct: Chief Secretary Anand Bardhan on Wednesday chaired a meeting with the departments concerned at the Secretariat to discuss providing foreign language training to the youth of Uttarakhand and creating new employment opportunities for them.
The Chief Secretary directed that foreign language training be developed as a comprehensive skill development programme so that school students, ITI students, youth associated with the medical and nursing sectors, and other interested individuals can benefit from it.
He instructed the Personnel and Finance Departments to coordinate with the concerned departments and prepare a comprehensive proposal for the foreign language training programme. He said the initiative should aim to equip the state’s youth with skills suited to global employment requirements and enable them to access a wider range of job opportunities.
The Chief Secretary emphasised the need to develop high-quality foreign language training programmes that can be delivered through both offline and online modes. He directed the Education Department to prepare a plan for teaching foreign languages, other than English, in all Atal Utkrisht Vidyalayas and Rajiv Navodaya Vidyalayas across the state.
He further directed the Skill Development and Employment Department to expand its existing foreign language training programmes, currently being conducted in Dehradun, Almora and Bageshwar, to cover the entire state. He instructed the department to establish foreign language training centres in every district and include centres operating as Centres of Excellence under the Skill Development Department in the initiative.
The Chief Secretary said that training programmes should be aligned with actual employment demand. Continuous coordination should be maintained with relevant agencies to connect youth proficient in foreign languages with employment opportunities available in India and abroad. He also stressed the importance of ensuring the quality of training and providing recognised certificates to trainees.
The Chief Secretary suggested utilising the services of students studying foreign languages at Doon University for the training programmes. He said arrangements should also be made to encourage these students by providing academic credits or other incentives.
Directing that foreign languages be incorporated into nursing courses, the Chief Secretary said that approximately 600 young people are currently pursuing nursing training in government nursing colleges across the state. Providing foreign language training to these nursing students would prove beneficial in expanding their career opportunities.
The meeting was attended by Secretary Dilip Jawalkar, Dr. Ranjit Kumar Sinha, Vinay Shankar Pandey, Jyoti Yadav, Doon University Vice-Chancellor Prof Surekha Dangwal, and Additional Secretary Manuj Goyal.
