Press Release

2015

Pre- Budget expectations for the Skills sector

By Mr. Rahul K Patwardhan, CEO Designate,

NIIT Limited, a global leader in skills & talent development

New Delhi, February 23, 2015: The government has been laying a lot of emphasis on skills development to promote economic growth, hence we are hopeful that the Finance Minister will announce some much awaited reforms to hasten the pace of the sector. As private sector participation is key to developing skilled manpower, we expect specific indirect tax rebates in the forthcoming budget, for the companies & its partners i.e. be it direct partners or their franchisees, involved in Skilling.

We would also expect the government to take initiatives to build social acceptance and industry buy-in for skills development through high decibel media campaigns, through which vocational skill courses/jobs are made aspirational. Placing a premium on certification by ensuring only certified people get government jobs is much required. Accelerated tax benefits should be provided to organizations that enable their employees to upskill through Sector Skills Council approved training and certification bodies.

The government should also create and empower Skills Universities within existing Universities, and enable them to provide training pan-India through distributed, technology-connected hubs or delivery centers. High government spends on skills development initiatives should be continued.

Further, schools and colleges should be mandated that every student of class 9 and above, acquires at least one QP/NOS certified job ready skill - in addition to regular school/college curriculum and school-leaving/college graduation certification. And all schools to be free of any restriction to work with reputed private training partners to enable this. This will ensure that every student who completes 8th standard, gets definite access to at least one certified job ready skill set.

About NIIT

Established in 1981, NIIT Limited, a global leader in Skills and Talent Development, offers multi-disciplinary learning management and training delivery solutions to corporations, institutions, and individuals in over 40 countries.

NIIT has three main lines of business across the globe- Corporate Learning Group, Skills and Careers Group, and School Learning Group.

NIIT's Corporate Learning Group (CLG) offers Managed Training Services (MTS) to market-leading companies in North America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania. The comprehensive suite of Managed Training Services includes custom Curriculum Design and Content Development, Learning Administration, Learning Delivery, Strategic Sourcing, Learning Technology, and Advisory Services. With a team of some of the world's finest learning professionals, NIIT is dedicated to helping customers increase the business value of learning and development (L&D). Built on the sound principles of 'Running Training like a Business', NIIT's Managed Training Services and best-in-class training processes enable customers to align business goals with L&D, reduce costs, realise measurable value, benefit from rock-solid operations, and increase business impact.

NIIT's Skills and Careers Group (SCG) delivers a diverse range of learning and talent development programs to millions of individual and corporate learners in areas including Banking, Finance & Insurance, Soft Skills, Business Process Excellence, Retail Sales Enablement, Management Education, Multi-Sectoral Vocational Skills, Digital Media Marketing, and new-age IT. These programs are delivered through a hybrid combination of the 'Cloud Campus' online platform, satellite-based 'Synchronous Learning Technology' and a physical network of hundreds of learning centers in India, China, and select markets in Asia & Africa. The flagship multi-disciplinary course offerings include the industry-endorsed RevGNIIT program and a set of Post Graduate Programs for students from different streams, apart from a wide range of specialist short duration programs.

To further strengthen its SCG portfolio in India, NIIT has tied up with industry majors like ICICI Bank for NIIT Institute of Finance Banking & Insurance, IFBI; leading business schools in India for NIIT Imperia; Genpact for NIIT Uniqua; and a joint venture with NSDC for NIIT Yuva Jyoti. Besides this, for the China market, NIIT has tied up with governments and software parks in Chongqing, Wuxi, Suzhou, Changzhou, Zhangjiagang, Haikou and Dafeng, for state-of-the-art public-private partnership centres.

NIIT's School Learning Group (SLG) provides technology based learning to over 15,000 government and private schools in India, Bhutan, South Africa and the Middle East. The futuristic NIIT nGuru range of learning solutions for schools comprises Interactive Classrooms with digital content, technology-driven Math Lab, IT Wizard programs and Quick School - an Education Resource Planning software.

NIIT's learning and talent development solutions, have received widespread recognition globally. The company has been named among the Top 20 Training Outsourcing Companies for the past seven consecutive years by Training Industry, Inc. Further, leading Indian ICT journal Dataquest has conferred upon NIIT the 'Top Training Company' award successively for the past 20 years, since the inception of this category. NIIT Yuva Jyoti Ltd was recognized as the Best Vocational Education and Skill Development initiative at the World Education Summit, 2014.

In recognition of its people-centric policies, which foster an environment of growth and career development, NIIT has been ranked as the 4th Best Company to work for in India 2013-14, by Great Place to Work Institute®.

For more information, visit www.niit.com

For Media query, Please contact

Prateek Chatterjee

Vice President, Corporate Communications & Marketing, NIIT Limited

Ph: (Cell) +91 9910201085, (Dir) +91 124 4293041

Email: prateek.chatterjee@niit.com

Sumana Bhattacharya / Puja Shalini

Candour Communications

Ph: (Cell) +91 98105 97176/ Ph: (Cell) +91 9654850909

Email: sumana@candour.co.in / Email: puja@candour.co.in

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About NIIT

NIIT is a leading Global Talent Development Corporation that is building a manpower pool for global industry requirements. The company, which was set up in 1981 to help the nascent IT industry overcome its human resource challenges, today ranks among the world’s leading training companies owing to its vast, yet comprehensive array of talent development programs. With a footprint across 30 nations, NIIT offers training and development solutions to Individuals, Enterprises and Institutions.