ALAPPUZHA:
The district-level round of multi-tier India Skills Kerala 2020 has generated huge response from the youth in the district, who took to competitions with enthusiasm and relish in a variety of vocational and non-vocation skills.
Over 300 contestants turned up to compete in over 18 disciplines at Government ITI and Women’s ITI in Chengannur, which hosted the event in the district.
They are vying for prizes in welding, automobile engineering, graphic designing, carpentry, joinery, cabinet making, brick-laying, plumbing and heating, painting and decoration, refrigeration and air conditioning, wall and floor-tiling, electronics, electrical installation, auto-body repair, fashion technology, mechanical engineering, floristry and web designing and development.
India Skills Kerala 2020 is being organized by the Industrial Training Department (ITD) and Kerala Academy for Skills Excellence (KASE), both under the State Labour and Skills Department.
Age did not deter many of the contestants as those who entered the fray included Nandu Santhosh and Dheeraj Shankar, eighth and ninth standard students respectively. In fact, the younger ones stole the limelight not just because they being juniors but on account of confidence they displayed while contesting with their seniors.
Skills such as floristry and fashion technology, which demand a sound aesthetic sense and dexterity, had larger participation of girls.
This year, the event has been able to attract greater participation in the district, thanks to advance publicity given through programmes like flashmob, said Mini Mathew, Principal, Government ITI, Chengannur. “We also sent teams to various schools around the district, drawing their attention to the event,” she added.
The district level competitions will be followed by Zonal events in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode between January 27 and 31. The grand state-level finale is scheduled from February 22 to 24, at Swapna Nagari, Kozhikode.
In the previous edition, competitions were held in 20 skills. This has been steeply increased to 42, which include 20 academic skills and 22 specialized skills. The state -level winners will get Rs One lakh each as prize money, and runners up Rs 50,000. All finalists will get Rs 10,000 each.
The state level winners will qualify for the national competitions and the prize-winning performers at the national round will get an opportunity to represent the country at World Skills 2021 in Shanghai, China.
