The state government plans to launch skill development centers in 100 schools managed by the
BMC to help students enhance their talents and gain employment. This pilot project will offer courses in Hindi, Marathi, and English, with a goal of providing five lakh young people with employment opportunities annually. Additionally, the Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Department has pledged to open 1,000 centers in rural areas in the coming months.
Each school under the BMC's jurisdiction will have one classroom dedicated to skill development courses, with more to be added later. The state government and BMC have collaborated on the curriculum. Initially, only a few courses will be offered, with more to be introduced later. The state government proposed the idea of skill development classes in 2015, aiming to help rural students acquire the necessary skills to find work locally and avoid having to migrate to urban areas.
Despite this, no skill development centers have been established in rural areas over the past nine years. All centers are in urban areas. To address this, the Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Department reached out to 28,200 Gram panchayats (GPs) in the state, selecting 500 GPs with adequate transportation and internet access to lead skill development programs. The department will provide the necessary resources to open centers in these GPs.
