Telangana, in what could be marked as a first in the country, has now decided to take up the task of certifying its workforce in the pharma and life sciences sectors through the Telangana Academy of Skills and Knowledge (TASK) under the ‘Recognition of Prior Learning’ (RPL) programme.
Launched by the ministry of skill development and entrepreneurship (MSDE) under its Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), RPL aims to align the competencies of the unregulated workforce with the National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF), a competency-based framework that organizes all qualifications according to a series of levels of knowledge, skills and aptitude.
The levels, graded from one to 10, are defined in terms of learning outcomes, which the learner must possess regardless of whether it is from a formal or an informal learning process.
There are, without a doubt, many people in rural areas or people from rural backgrounds who acquire and master certain skills over years and years or training and practise in factories near their homes- which they cannot put on a resume or vouch for officially.
Therefore, it is the objective of RPL to assess such skills and certify them in order to enable these worker make career
related progress.“TASK had conducted a pilot in December last year with five companies – Covalent Lab, Dr Reddy’s, Unique Biotech, Granules and Optimus – where 91 employees were assessed for the job role of quality control chemist and 76 passed. Following the success of this pilot, we decided to reach out to small and mid-sized players as they can benefit a lot from this programme,” explains TASK chief executive officer (CEO), Sujiv Nair.
While TASK has been reaching out to pharma and life sciences companies in the state, it has also assigned an official from the life sciences sector skill council at the TASK office, to actively coordinate with stakeholders.
