CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Skill Development Corporation (TNSDC) is in the process of establishing its own identity as a certifying and assessing agency, which would help ensure the quality of training programmes run by various institutions. At present, assessments and accreditation are carried out by the skills councils of the respective sector.

Apart from traditional undergraduate and postgraduate courses in arts, science and engineering streams, a large number of short-term training programmes have been introduced in the institutions to further develop students’ skill sets.

“However, these short-term courses were not be assessed or monitored to ensure that they were genuine and recognised,” a senior official from the Higher Education Department told DT Next.

Currently, the corporation collaborates with government agencies, reputed private skill training institutions and industry partners to impart industry-oriented skill training. Now, it has been entrusted with the task of forming a committee comprising academicians and representatives from various industries to establish its own identity as a certifying agency.

“This was done after taking into consideration the presence of the large pool of experts in training and academic institutions,” the official said.

The TNSDC would be involved in the identification of skill development requirements, including preparing a catalogue detailing types of skills, range and depth to enable youth to choose the most suited ones. “The corporation will undertake standardisation of affiliation, accreditation, examination and certification process,” he added.