Skill India Mission partners with Facebook to train Youth and Entrepreneurs with Digital Skills

Advent of the digital economy has helped improve access to services and information where traditional channels have not been able to deliver. On the occasion of World Youth Skills Day, Facebook and the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), India have entered into strategic partnership in Bhubaneswar, Odisha to empower youth and entrepreneurs with digital skills in India.

Strengthening the Skill India Mission, the partnership will enable MSDE to incorporate Facebook’s training on Digital Marketing Skills in its courses besides providing trainees with access to local, domestic and international markets. The program includes courses on Digital Marketing, Online Safety & Financial Literacy in regional languages with Facebook training master trainers nominated by the NSDC. This will up-skill job seekers and increase their prospects of employment.

Addressing a key challenge faced by NSDC, the partnership will also enable trainees to have access to Facebook’s Jobs tool to easily search for job openings. They can easily search for jobs in the jobs bookmark in their Facebook app or visit www.facebook.com/jobs through their mobile phones while controlling the sharing of information with prospective employers. This will provide trainees with a much-needed access to the market while employers will find it easy to post jobs and manage applications on mobiles.

Commenting on the initiative, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Honorable Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas and for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Government of India said, “Under the Skill India Mission we are able to annually skill/reskill/Upskill close to 1 crore youth in the country through central government programs. This partnership with Facebook aims to leverage the digital opportunity which can assist in creating a market place for many businesses and service offerings for candidates getting trained under our skill ecosystem and; also act as an information kiosk for knowledge sharing. With Facebook’s expertise and support, we are taking a step towards utilizing the immense potential of digital skills for the economic betterment of the country.”

Elaborating the partnership, Ankhi Das, Public Policy Director – India, South & Central Asia –‎Facebook said, “Our mission is to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together. Digital skills unlock new opportunities and empower people to grow. We are delighted to partner with the National Skill Development Corporation to help in upskilling the youth of the country and also empower local businesses by providing training and resources to build up a digital presence and grow their businesses beyond what the traditional offline economies offer. This skilled workforce and successful businesses are imperative for boosting employment and economic growth in the country.”