Colleges to offer Nasscom skilling courses in curriculum: Odisha government

BHUBANESWAR: In a bid to improve skills and employability of students in government-run higher education institutions (HEIs), the state government on Friday directed all institutions to start integrating FutureSkills Prime courses of Nasscom into their curriculum.

The institutions will also have to facilitate the alignment of certifications offering credit equivalence to learners as mandated under the National Credit Framework, provisioned under the National Education Policy-2020. Secretary of Higher Education department Arvind Agarwal on Friday asked heads of HEIs to begin embedding various skill courses under the FutureSkills Prime – a digital skilling initiative of Nasscom – into the curriculum. The FutureSkills Prime courses of Nasscom focus on building technology skills spanning over 155 skills for more than 70 job roles on 10 emerging technologies and 10 non-tech skills.

Earlier this year, the department had inked an MoU with Infosys and Nasscom to skill, upskill and reskill 8 lakh students across 1,100 colleges and universities in Odisha in key technologies, crucial for today’s digital ecosystem under its FutureSkills Prime programme. Besides the students, the MoU aims to skill the existing faculty in key technologies in the digital ecosystem. The collaboration focuses on developing technical expertise across various disciplines, promoting digital fluency, and delivering industry-curated content, said Agarwal.

Sources said the institutions will have to nominate learners interested to pursue the courses and earn credits. The department has roped in the Odisha State Higher Education Council to act as nodal agency for operationalisation of the MoU.