'Basic limitation of BVoc was its name'

Established in 2013 at Tarsali in Gujarat’s Vadodara district, TeamLease Skills University is India’s first vocational education and training university. It was the result of a public-private partnership between the Gujarat government and Bengaluru-based recruitment agency, TeamLease Services. In this interaction with Musab Qazi, TeamLease’s chief strategy officer Sumit Kumar speaks about the university’s unique approach, regulatory limitations and the future of skilling in the country. Edited excerpts:

- Musab Qazi

Q. Where did the idea of a skills university come from and how has it fared so far?

A. Our aim was to create more employable people and bridge the skill gap. Being in the employment business, we realised that the world of work was transforming and that there was a disconnect between education and employment. We explored a community college concept where we could mobilise students locally and get more industry-linked programmes. We were registered as a state private university in 2013. While we focus on the local population, students from outside Gujarat have also enrolled at the university.

In 2022, we were accredited by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) - we are the only skills university to be assessed so far.

Q. How many students are enrolled?

A. While there are around 400 students for campus programmes, we have also been working on industry projects, where organisations re-skill their existing workforce. TeamLease also runs an apprenticeship programme and was involved with the National Employability Enhancement Mission (NEEM). In fact, we were the first university to prepare an industry apprenticeship programme under the Apprenticeship Embedded Degree Programme (AEDP) guidelines, in collaboration with Electronics Sector Skills Council Of India and Automotive Skills Development Council.

Q. What proportion of curriculum consist of on the job training?

A. Every semester, students go through an industry course, with 30% time spent in industries we have local tie-ups with.

Q. How many courses do you have? How do you choose which to offer?

A. We have a flagship BSc Mechatronics programme, in addition to BCom, DMLT and hospitality-related courses. We chose regular nomenclature for the courses, instead of BVoc, to have a wider appeal. The programmes were designed keeping in mind the needs of the industry.