New Delhi: The Union government and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) today signed a $85 million loan agreement to improve the Skill Development eco-system in Odisha and establish an advanced skill training center, the World Skill Centre (WSC), in Bhubaneswar.

The state-of-the-art facility aims to improve quality of State’s Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programs by making them relevant to industry and demand driven; to impart advanced occupation-ready skills training aligned with international standards and to complement efforts to target employment needs of emerging sectors in India and globally.

Worth mentioning, the project will engage Institute of Technical Education Services (ITEES), Singapore, to support Odisha Skill Development Authority (OSDA) in setting-up and operationalizing the centre which would offer internationally benchmarked advanced training programs for the working age population of Odisha.

The Project will help over 1, 50, 000 people learn skills in priority sectors, including manufacturing, construction and services for formal employment. WSC will deliver eight training courses for 13,000 full-time students, provide training for 5,000 teachers and train 1,000 assessors. These important functions of WSC will support a network of Government ITIs and develop skills and capacity of polytechnics, college of engineering, and other private skilling centers.

The country’s first World Skill Centre at newly-constructed 18 storey building will span over five lakh sq ft including a helipad. The Centre will be formally inaugurated in early 2019 with the rolling out of first course.